


Bedtime Stories

by glitteringeva



Category: RWBY
Genre: ALL THE FLUFF, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Nothing explicit, Parent AU, Parenthood, Some Swearing, Sudden Parenthood, drama later on, implied sex, parenting, shameless fluff, tragic backstory unlocked at parenting level 5
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-22
Updated: 2017-11-18
Packaged: 2018-11-03 20:42:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 42
Words: 76,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10974960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glitteringeva/pseuds/glitteringeva
Summary: The Gauntlets & Greaves 'Oh, I actually never told you we have a daughter, there she is, take care of her'-AU no one asked for.Merc is young, minding his own business, when Yang suddenly tells him they have a daughter, also she needs a babysitter. So, how do you hide a child at work and deal with temper tantrums? Who knows? Mercury definitely doesn't.Shameless fluff to make myself feel better. Pure comfort writing. Some romance later on. And everyone is going to fall for Yang's sweet, sweet daughter.





	1. Chapter 1

Mercury loved the office when Cinder wasn’t there. Working without anyone bothering him and taking more breaks than she would have allowed him, getting on Emerald’s nerves whenever he liked and letting her take all the phone calls.

The music was so loud he didn’t notice Emerald until she was pulling at his headphones, standing right next to him. He flinched, took the headphones off and rolled his chair back until he hit the wall. “Damn. Do you want me to get a heart attack?”

“So I can call the ambulance and do your work as well? Hell, no.” She rolled her eyes. “This angry woman is calling all morning and you’re just not picking up.”

“I said I’m not taking any calls today. Is it Cinder?”

“No. I think Yang or something like that. She said it’s urgent.”

“If she calls next ask her if our apartment is on fire and if not I don’t care. You’re handling all the customer stuff today.”

She rolled her eyes. “Are you even working?”

“Sure. Almost done with the Sherman thing.”

“You said that would take you all week.”

He smirked and leaned back. “Yeah, which means I can go home earlier today and when Cinder’s back next week I’ll tell her I got more done than expected.”

“I hate you. I really, really hate you.” She sighed and got back to her desk at the other end of the room.

“Hey, I’ll cook dinner tonight, how does that sound?”

“You can’t cook, Merc.”

“I’ll get us Takeaway.”

“Lasagne and tiramisu, from the good Italian, not just the one that’s closest by.”

“Got it.” He was still sure she couldn’t taste the difference, but he needed her to keep her mouth shut in front of Cinder when it came to his attitude at work.

He got the code done before it turned four. Emerald shot him some angry glares when he left the office, he just winked at her. But someone had to watch the phone. He still felt bad enough about it to make a detour and get what she had wanted from where she had wanted on his way home.

He was in a wonderful mood when he climbed the stairs to the loft he lived in with Emerald. She loved it, but he didn’t really care where they lived as long as they lived together so he only had to do half of the chores (and actually did a quarter). Yeah, it looked hip and had big windows, but none of them really bothered to clean it regularly anyway, so they could as well live in some way cheaper apartment with boring square rooms.

He didn’t notice the woman until he was already fumbling around with his keys. “There you are”, she said, sitting on the stairs to the rooftop. The person he had least expected sitting on his doorstep now, including his dead parents.  

“I don’t need a fire insurance”, he said while unlocking the door, pretending not to recognise her.

“Come on, you know who I am.”

He turned around and looked at her again. Blonde hair, yellow and black prosthetic, hot and heartless. “This is a bit late to complain about me not calling you back, Yang.”

“Let’s talk inside.” Before he could stop her she had sneaked past him and was inside his flat. The very last place where he wanted her. Damn. “Not bad”, she said. “But do you ever do your dishes?”

“Actually my _girlfriend_ will be back soon.” He stressed the word, hoping it would make her leave. He put an empty pizza carton in the bin to make place for the bag with the food. “How did you even find me?”

“I googled your name, called at your office and when you didn’t want to talk to me your friendly co-worker gave me your address.”

Damn, Emerald. He regretted getting her the lasagne. “So, what do you want?”

“So, six years ago, you remember? Summer job at this restaurant, we were pretty bored and had sex in the back room all the time?” For a couple of months until she had suddenly quit her job and never talked to him again. She sat down on the couch and began to search for something in her bag.  

“I mean it’s been a while.” He sat down at the other end of the sofa, thinking about ways to get her out of his apartment.

“No shit, Sherlock.” She rolled her eyes. “Well, to make it brief, I got pregnant, you have a daughter, congratulations, I need a babysitter.”

For a moment he just stared at her an didn’t get what she was saying. “Sorry, what?”

“Yeah, I know this is a bit awkward.”

“Do you… hell, no. She’s definitely not mine.”

She rolled her eyes. “Blake said you’d say that.” She pulled a framed photograph out of her bag and handed it to him. “Just look at her, she totally looks just like you.”

“That could be Photoshop. I could do something like that in ten minutes.” He didn’t even really look at it. “What do you want?”

“I said that, a babysitter. Apparently I’m five years too late to get her into a proper kindergarden, one without junkies leaving their syringes in the playground at night. I have a job now, my best friend has a job too, her boyfriend… let’s not talk about that, and everyone else lives too far away. I can’t afford a proper nanny, so either you’re gonna be a great daddy and take care of her twice a week or my other friend who’s a lawyer will make you pay child support for the past five years.”

“I am so not going to-“

“You want a test? Fine. But I have to start tomorrow and I can’t leave her anywhere. Trust me, I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t completely desperate. Just… have your test and if it turns out she’s not yours I’m going to pay you a hundred bucks an hour, but I really, really need someone to take care of her.”

He stared at her. Tried to make sense of what she was saying. He didn’t even want a girlfriend, the last thing he wanted was a daughter. “I have a job, too.”

“Can’t you take her with you?”

“Why can’t _you_ take her with you?”

“Because I work as a structural engineer, construction sides are no place where you can take children with you. I can take her with me on office days and she’ll be in school in a couple of months, but I really, really need this job.”

“So you rather leave her with me, a complete stranger?”

“Come on, you’re not a complete stranger. We basically spend the entire summer together. And if I lose this job I will lose custody over her.”

This just didn’t get any better. “How reassuring.”

“It’s complicated, okay? I’ll drop her off at eight. I’ll give you instructions, I’ll call every hour and of anything happens my best friend will be there in ten minutes. Listen, I don’t want your money. If you just take her while I’m working I won’t ask for a penny.”

He tried to think of something to get out of this, but if she was right, and it didn’t seem that unlikely (he had never been really careful at that age, which lead to some very awkward doctor’s appointments and the decision not to have drunk sex ever again four years ago), he had to spend everything he owned on that stupid child and that would leave him where he had been a couple of years ago, make everything he had worked for be for nothing. “Why the hell are you telling me just now? Why not like six years ago?”

She sighed. “Because I was young and I thought you’d chicken out of it anyway, so I just… I don’t know. I was young.”

“Well, fuck you then”, he growled.

“I probably deserve that one.”

“I want the test”, he said. He had no words for how much he hated her right now. Even more than six years ago.

“Yeah, sure.” She looked at him, insecure for a moment. “So… you’ll do it?”

“I didn’t say that. Can I just leave her in a corner and let her… do whatever children that age do?” At least until he had figured out how to prove he wasn’t her father.

She sighed. “Sure. I’ll bring toys to keep her busy.”

 “How fast can you get those test results?”

“I have a friend who’ll do it in a week.”

Well, next week would be a hassle, but _if_ she was his daughter, big if, this was the cheapest way out. Technically she had every right to claim a ton of money from him. Technically he didn’t want anything less than giving her that money, because he had actually saved it for a purpose and because _she_ didn’t deserve it. If he thought about it he’d actually rather burn it. “Alright, alright.”

“You’re saving me.” She got up. “Just… you’re going to love her, she’s adorable.”

“I’m not really fond of children.” He was still holding the picture in his hand.

“But she’s special.”

“Every mother says that.”

“I’ll be here at eight.”

Emerald always left the house at half past seven, if he came up with an excuse to arrive at the office later they wouldn’t have to meet. He nodded.

“Thank you so much.” She smiled. He didn’t feel like smiling at all. “Her name is Rose by the way.”

“I’m pretty sure that test will just show some other poor guy is her father and you’ll own me a ton of money. I’ll make you pay for every minute I spend with her.”

“Let’s wait for the results.” She got up. “Well, see you tomorrow then.”

It was long after she had left that he finally managed to get up. He kicked a laundry basket out of his way when he went to his room, just when Emerald came through the door. “No one called, I swear tomorrow you’ll watch the phone. Oh, you got dinner.”

“I’m not hungry”, he growled, went to his room and slammed the door behind him. It was only now that he finally looked at the picture he was still holding in his hand. A small girl, ash blonde curls, dark eyes, her mother’s wide grin. She totally couldn’t be his daughter. Impossible.

The worst part was that she looked exactly like his mother.


	2. Chapter 2

It wasn’t hard to get Emerald to leave the house without him. He just got up late and locked himself into the bathroom until she was so annoyed she just left. When it turned eight he was already ready to leave, nervous and angry.

Of course she was late. She seemed to do everything to make this even harder for him. When she finally knocked at his door it was quarter past eight and he was ready to kill.

“I should be at work by now”, he said. It didn’t matter as long as Cinder wasn’t there, but she didn’t need to know that.

“I’m so sorry, the traffic.” She seemed in a rush. He couldn’t stop staring at the little girl that was holding her hand. “Rosie, go look out of that window for a moment, okay?”

“Mum, look at the flowers.”

“Don’t touch the orchids”, Mercury said quickly. Emerald would kill him if anything happened to them.

“Don’t touch anything, just look.” Yang took a deep breath while Rose looked at one of Emerald’s magazines she had found on the floor. “Okay, so everything you need is in the bag. Books, toys, crayons, food, juice and some spare clothes in case anything happens. I’ll pick her up at five. There’s a little notebook with my number, Blake’s number and a list with everything important.”

“Yeah, sure.” He still had no idea how to get through this day.

“Listen.” She got closer and lowered her voice to a whisper. “I told her you’re a friend and that’s what we stick with at the moment. If you lose her or hurt her or make her cry I swear to god I will find you and cut your throat, got it?”

He had no doubt she meant what she was saying. “I think I know why you have trouble finding a babysitter”, he said. “And actually you’re not really in the position to make any demands right now.

She closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. Same thing she had always done when a customer had really tested her patience. “Just… be nice and don’t leave her out of sight, okay? Read the notebook.”

“Yeah, sure. Anything else?”

“Do you have a fridge at work? Microwave?”

“Sure.”

“Okay, that makes lunch way easier. I made sandwiches for today. Text me so I have your number and answer your phone when I call you. Also tell me where to pick her up, here or at your office.” She handed him the bag. It was surprisingly heavy. “Take her hand when you cross the road, actually, take her hand all the time, she likes to look at stuff and kids get lost so easily.”

Hadn’t she said this was going to be easy? “Alright, can we leave then?”

“Yeah, sure.” She sighed. “Rose, I’ll leave for work now.”

Rose almost tripped over a pile of books when she ran into Yang’s arms. “How long do you have to work?”

“I’ll pick you up at five. You’ll stay with Mercury, he’s a friend and very nice. Do what he says and behave, yeah? No running away, no hide and seek, got it?”

“Yeah, mummy.” She hugged Yang tightly before she let go. “How long is it until five?”

“It won’t feel long, I promise.”

She nodded and Yang kissed her goodbye before she finally left. Mercury stared at Rose who stared at the door. _Please don’t cry, please don’t cry._

“So, can we leave then?”, he asked. She was smaller than he had imagined, wearing pink leggings and a yellow shirt that made his eyes hurt, a tiny red backpack that looked like a ladybug.

“I have never seen you before”, she said sceptically.

“Yeah, your mum and I are… old friends.” He could feel his whole body protesting at calling her his friend. “We haven’t seen each other in a while. But we have to go to work now.”

“Do you build houses too?”

“No.” He sighed. This would be a long day. He took his own bag and she followed him out of the loft, jumping down the stairs while he was still locking the door. “Wait, your mum will rip my ass if I lose you.”

“Mum said swearing is a bad thing.”

Oh, of course. At least six years ago Yang hadn’t cared about that at all. He sighed. “Yeah, she’s right with that.” Not that he cared but he didn’t want to give her a reason to take all his money. He followed her downstairs and took her hand when they left the building. Better not lose this one. It felt weird and he wanted to let go of her.

Walking to work with a child was exhausting. She couldn’t keep up with his usual pace so he had to slow down, also she didn’t even seem to bother with walking fast, stopping to look at every second car that came by.

“There’s a dog”, she said, pointing to something at the other side of the road.

“Yeah”, he said.

“You’re not even looking.”

He turned around and looked. “Yeah… it’s a dog.”

“Grandpa has a dog too. They’re both old now.”

He sighed. This would take way too long. He got on his knees next to her. “Okay, how about you get on my shoulders and I carry you?”

She clapped her hand excitedly. “Oh, yes!”

He helped her climb on his shoulders and got up. She wasn’t heavy, but carrying her and two bags still promised a sore back. At least he could walk at a decent pace now.

“Do you like dogs?”, she asked. “I like dogs. I want a dog but mum says she’s working too much and the dog would be sad. Do you have a dog?”

“No.” He wasn’t really a pet person. “Why don’t you count all red cars on the way to work?”

“There are too many, I can’t count that high yet.”

He quickly found out that she was completely fine with rambling on and him not listening. He just let her talk and bury her hands in his hair to support herself. He was beyond caring about how he looked by now.

It promised to be a hot summer’s day and he thanked Cinder for picking an office with air conditioning. He put Rose down before he opened the office door. “Don’t touch anything”, he said.

“I decided you’ll stay late today”, Emerald said, coming out of the kitchen with a cup of coffee in her hand. She looked at him, then stared at Rose and froze. “Okay, explain _that_.”

“She’s a friend’s daughter, she asked me to take care of her because she just started a new job.”

Emerald didn’t buy it for a second, he could see that. “Okay, why don’t you sit down on that couch there?” She took Rose’s hand and Rose didn’t hesitate to follow her into the waiting room. So if she was his daughter, and he still had his doubts, his daughter was an idiot who just followed everyone without asking questions. Emerald sat her down on the couch where Rose was fortunately happy with pulling a colouring book and crayons out of her backpack. “I’ll just talk to Merc for a second”, she said. “We’re right over there if you need anything. Oh, that picture looks pretty, did you draw that yourself?”

He wasn’t surprised she was way better with children than him. But to be fair he wasn’t even trying. She even managed to calm her voice while having murder in her eyes when she approached him, dragging him into the kitchen. “Honestly, did you steel her?”

“No. I told you she’s a friend’s daughter. She asked me to take care of her.”

“Since when do you have friends?” She shook her head while he finally laid down the bags.

“A girl I slept with a couple of months ago.” About seventy-two months to be precise.

“Since when do you hit on mothers?”

“It was a one time thing, okay? I’m just being nice for once.”

“Mercury, you’re just…” She sighed. “And you just bring her to work?”

“Cinder’s not here anyway.” He opened the bag Yang had given him to see what he had to work with. He forced himself not to think about next week because no way Cinder would let him bring her to work. He found the notebook Yang had talked about, also some children’s books, boxes with carefully prepared sandwiches and snacks, a bottle with juice with an aggressively orange note to mix it with water, the clothes Yang had talked about.

“Who on earth trusts you with a child?” She looked completely baffled. She wasn’t wrong.

“She seemed quite desperate.”

“I don’t even know how I deal with you sometimes.” She sighed. “Okay, let’s see. I’ll bring her some juice and you get to work. Watch the phone.”

For once he didn’t protest. He was just glad he didn’t have to tell her the truth for now. If it even was the truth.

He sat down at his desk and opened the notebook. First he texted Yang before he could forget about it. The notebook was filled with things to consider, do’s and don’ts. Some quite obvious ( _Don’t let her play alone with fire, Make sure she drinks enough_ ), some a bit ridiculous ( _Make sure she doesn’t get kidnapped_ ), some actually useful ( _Read her a story before naptime and she’ll fall asleep everywhere_ ), also every possible phone number he could need if she got hurt, homesick or bitten by a snake. No mention of him being her father (maybe), so it was safe for Emerald to read.

“Okay, you can sit down here.” Emerald came back with Rose, tidying the empty desk in the middle of the room they only used to expand their chaos. “You can just sit here and draw, alright?”

“What do you work?”, she asked. “It doesn’t look like Blake’s office.”

“We… make computers work”, Emerald said. It was a very, very simple description of what they did, and not even accurate. But it seemed to be enough for Rose.

“Here”, Mercury said, throwing the notebook at Emerald.

“What’s that?” She sat down on his desk, opening it. “Why are you giving me that?”

“Thought you might want to know.”

“I don’t even like children”, she whispered. “And I’m sure as hell not going to take care of this one for you just because you were too stupid to say not.” He didn’t buy the first part for a second.

“Just… help me a little?”

“No way.”

“I’ll clean the apartment. This weekend. Every corner.”

She sighed. “The weekend will barely be enough.” She closed the notebook. “Well, before you inevitably damage her...”

He rolled his eyes. She wasn’t exactly reassuring, he already knew he would be a terrible, terrible father. That’s why he had never wanted children, apart from just not having any idea what to do with them. “I owe you something”, he whispered. “Honestly.”

“I know.” She got up and patted his back before she got back to his desk.

Rose was silently drawing and Mercury actually got to work until Yang called. He didn’t want to pick up, but that would probably make her call the police or something.

“What?”

“Just wanted to check in on how things are going.” She sounded out of breath.

“Perfectly fine.”

“What is she doing? Is she alright?”

“Drawing all morning.” He rolled his eyes. “I’ll still be at work around five.”

“Alright. I’ll check in with you later. Did you give her anything to drink yet?”

“Yes.” Well, at least Rose would never manage to be as annoying as Yang was. At least so far. She as Yang’s daughter after all.  

“Okay, maybe give her some grapes, she sometimes likes to snack them before lunch. But not all of them or she might get sick.”

“Alright.” Maybe just jumping out of the window was an option as well. “Anything else?”

“No. Alright, talk to you later.”

He sighed and rested his forehead on the desk for a moment. How was he supposed to deal with this until she was old enough to just ignore her? This job was the longest thing he had ever committed to and three years felt unbearably long already. He stayed like this for what felt like an eternity, not able to concentrate on his work or to get himself to even try.

“Look”, said Rose next to him all of a sudden.

“Not right now.”

She tucked at the sleeve of his shirt. “I drew that for you.”

He sighed and rose his head. He wasn’t sure if the picture was supposed to show a dog or a cow, definitely some sort of animal. “Beautiful.”

“You can hang it on the wall, like Blake.”

He didn’t even know who Blake was, nor did he want to know. “Yeah, I’ll do that later.”

She looked disappointed and he had no idea what he had done wrong. He took the picture and put in on his desk, but that didn’t really make it any better.

“How about we get some ice cream, Rose?”, Emerald said all of a sudden. Mercury looked up. For once she seemed genuinely upset, and he honestly hadn’t seen her like that very often. It took him off guard.

“Are we allowed to have ice cream before lunch?”, Rose asked.

“Yes, we are.” She grabbed her bag. “Mercury can take care of the phone for a moment, can’t he?” She shot angry glares at him and he just shrugged sheepishly.

“Can I go with her?” Rose looked at Mercury. “Mum says I have to ask before going with someone who’s not her or Blake.”

“Yeah, sure.” Yang would probably kill him later for that, but right now he was more worried about Emerald.

They took their time. He worked for about half an hour, but then he started to get worried and that bothered him the most. He shouldn’t even care about that stupid child. _Her_ stupid child.

Well, he cared about himself and Yang would definitely kill him if he lost her daughter.

After another fifteen minutes he couldn’t concentrate anymore. He sighed, then pinned Rose’s picture to the wall so she would hopefully not bother him with that anymore. He thought about calling Emerald, but when he did her phone buzzed on her desk. Oh, great.

When they eventually came back he made sure to look busy. “Come on, we wash our hands before we get back inside”, Emerald said in the hallway. “Yours are full of chocolate ice cream.”

“But my shirt is clean.”

“Yeah, that’s amazing.”

He sighed. Well, at least she wasn’t dead.

Emerald came back before Rose did, hitting the back of his head. “If you’re that mean to her ever again I swear I will tell Cinder how often you’ve actually been here.”

“Come on, what did I do?”

“She drew you a picture and you didn’t even look properly. She likes you and you don’t deserve it.”

He rolled his eyes. He had hoped she wouldn’t like him. Would have made a lot of things way easier. “Alright, alright.”

“She’s adorable.” She shook her head and turned to leave.

“Hey.” He grabbed her hand. “You okay?”

“Sure.” She shrugged it off and he sighed, but let go of her hand.

Rose came back into the room, cheerfully crawling back on her chair. “I had chocolate ice cream”, she said.

“Oh, that’s… awesome.” He forced himself to smile at her. “Why don’t you draw a picture for Emerald as well?”

“Would she want that?”

Emerald chuckled and Mercury nodded. “I’m sure she would.”

Emerald was the born babysitter. She remembered Rose’s lunch time, read her a story afterwards and while Rose napped on the couch Mercury got his day’s work done. But then Emerald was done with hers as well and left to go home because even he acknowledged she deserved more than just one afternoon of him watching the phone.

He continued coding his own programme when Rose came back into the room, rubbing her tired eyes. “Can I have juice?”, she asked and yawned.

“Yeah, sure.” He got up. “You look more like you’d need a coffee.”

“I’m a child, I don’t drink coffee.” She actually managed to sound just as annoyed as her mother.

“Yeah, sure. That was a joke.” He found her juice in the fridge. Emerald had stuck another note to it, _Half water half juice_. He rolled his eyes. “So, do you want to draw another picture for Emerald?”

“I already made her two.”

“Well… do you want to read a book?”

“I can’t read yet.”

Oh, well. She wasn’t exactly making this easy for him. “So what do you want to do?” He went back to the office with her, carrying the glass with her juice.

“Can you show me what you work?”

He sighed. Well, this wasn’t going to be easy to explain. “Well, I can try.” He sat down at his desk and made sure to place her juice as far away from his computer as possible.

“Can I sit on your lap?”

“Yeah, sure.” He picked her up and she made herself comfortable.

“Do you have metal legs?”

He froze. Forced himself to take a deep breath. “Yeah.”

“Mum has a metal arm.”

That girl was remarkably quick-witted. “Alright, do you want to see what I’m doing here?”

“Yes!” She stared at the screen excitedly and he wished he could be that excited about code again.

“Well, I write a computer programme. See the text?”

“Yeah, but I can’t read it.”

“It’s boring anyway. It’s like an instruction what the computer is supposed to do.”

“And what do you want it to do?”

“In this case business calculations.”

“What’s that?”

He sighed. “Well, it’s… something with numbers.”

“Oh. That sounds boring.”

“Because it is boring.” But worth a lot of money. Money that could get him out of this stupid business and into working as a freelancer.

When the doorbell rang he at first didn’t get the idea it could be Yang. Only when he told Rose to wait and opened the door he realised it was already past five. “Oh, you.”

“Sorry, I’m late.” She sighed and walked inside as if he had invited her. “Oh, this looks a lot nicer than your apartment. How did it go?”

“Alright I guess. She’s still alive.”

“Well, I hope she is.” Yang rolled her eyes. “Hey, can we talk for a minute?”

Hopefully not about this whole parenting thing because he was not going to agree on that. Not now. Not ever. Babysitter, alright, that saved him a lot of money. But being a father? Hell, no. Not like he wanted to talk to her about anything else. “Sure.”

She fumbled around with her hair for a moment. “Well, I know I caught you a bit off guard with this whole… thing.”

“That puts it lightly.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier.”

He raised his eyebrows and stopped himself from telling her that he would have preferred her not telling him at all, and that her apology didn’t make anything better. “And why didn’t you tell me right away? I don’t buy that ‘I was young and didn’t know any better’ excuse for a second.”

“It’s complicated. Anyway, I just want… I don’t want to make you uncomfortable with this situation, but I really had no choice. I also don’t want to force this upon you, it’s just that…” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “She doesn’t need a father, but if you _want_ to take that role I have no right to stop you. I just… I don’t want her to get hurt, so my only condition is that if you make that choice you should better be sure about it. You don’t have to make that choice now, I just wanted to… make this clear.”

He was pretty sure he had already made that choice. “Go fuck yourself.”

“Mercury, I-“

“No, just… stop that. You just show up, tell me I supposedly have a daughter, deny me any explanation and suddenly you talk about my right to be a father. I’m honestly more than done with you.”

“I had my reasons okay?”

“How am I supposed to know, you’re not telling me anything about that. Anyway, I think she’ll get very bored if we do that more often.”

“I’ll think of something.” She looked at him for an uncomfortably long moment, then she looked around the corner. “Hey, Rosie!”

“Mummy!” She jumped into her arms and hugged her tightly. It was almost adorable. “Did you know Mercury is telling computers to do things with numbers?”

“No, I didn’t know that.” Yang kissed her forehead and picked her up. “Let’s gather your things and then we can go home, how does that sound?”

“I’ll do that”, he said. She’d forget half of it anyway. Rose showed Yang the pictures she had drawn for him and Emerald while he packed the bag.

“Tomorrow, same time?”, Yang asked.

“Yeah, sure.” It was not like he had a choice.

“Great. Thank you so much again.”

“Bye!” Rose waved at him and smiled. It looked painfully familiar. Only when they were gone he remembered that he had forgotten to ask about the test.

He was pretty sure he knew how the results would turn out already.


	3. Chapter 3

Emerald was sitting on the couch when he got home, watching some cook show he couldn’t care less about. “I made pasta”, she said. “It’s still warm.”

He groaned and dropped on the couch next to her, lying down and resting his head on her lap.

“Are you alright?” She sounded concerned, stroking some strands of hair out of his face.

“Just tired. Children are exhausting.”

“Wow, you must really, really like that girl.”

If only she knew. “Can we not talk about it for a moment?”

“Sure, sure.” Of course it totally didn’t help for her to worry less. “You should eat something.”

“Only because you got to care about one child today doesn’t mean you have to treat me like one as well.” He was lying and they both knew that. He wouldn’t have sought her comfort if he hadn’t wanted it. But he still had his pride and after all he couldn’t tell her about all this anyway. Not yet. It was enough that she now definitely knew something was wrong. “How about we go on holiday this summer?”

“It’s August, we won’t get anywhere before September, so better make it autumn.”

“Well, still warm enough at some places.”

“Do you actually want to go to a beach? You’ll just get sand in your prosthetics and you’re not swimming anyway. Also you do nothing but complaining as soon as it’s warmer than frost.”

“Okay, why don’t we go somewhere cold?”

“Can’t we just take a week off and do nothing?”

“Sounds great.” He closed his eyes.

“I mean we could finally clean the apartment.”

“You always know how to spoil the mood.”


	4. Chapter 4

This morning Yang was on time. She knocked at eight and Rose cheerfully jumped through the door when he opened. “Where’s Emerald?”, she asked and Mercury was seriously scared she’d break everything within her reach.

“She’s been talking about Emerald all the way back home.” Yang sighed and gave Mercury the bag. “Thank you so much again.”

Not like she was really giving him a choice. He refused to look at her. “So you’ll pick her up at five?”

“Yeah. I packed her some pasta for lunch, can you heat that up at work?”

“Sure.”

“Make sure it’s not too hot.”

“Of course.” He wouldn’t be the one doing it anyway, because Emerald apparently trusted him less with stuff like that than Yang.

“Okay, see you at five then, call me or Blake if anything happens.” Yang made a big fuss about hugging and kissing Rose goodbye. He sighed.

“Hey, Yang!”, he said before she disappeared through the door.

“Yes?”

“The test.”

“Oh, right.” She almost seemed disappointed. “I got the envelope with everything at home, I’ll bring it to you tonight, okay?”

He nodded and turned around, waited for her to leave.

Mercury was glad Rose wasn’t one of those children who immediately started to cry when being separated from her mother. She stayed her cheerful self, though she was now clinging to him and he wasn’t sure which option he preferred. She grabbed his hand on their way down and talked about her grandfather’s dog, he wasn’t really listening. When they left the building he picked her up to carry her on his shoulders again. She buried her tiny hands in his hair and he was beyond caring about it.

“You’re not even talking today”, she said eventually.

“What?”

“You’re not talking. Are you sad?”

“No, why would I be sad?” If anything he was angry he hadn’t thought about contraception six years earlier. Well, maybe it was a bit mean because she wasn’t the worst child after all, but apparently _his_ child and why couldn’t some other poor soul have screwed Yang that summer?

“Mum was sad when Neptune liked another woman more than her. I was sad, too. He says he’s still my friend but he doesn’t live with us anymore and I don’t like that. He lives sooo far away now. And how can you like anyone more than mummy? I don’t even like Blake more than her.”

“Yeah, he’s probably an idiot.” Or a guy who had realised soon enough what a cold bitch her mother was. He couldn’t blame him.

“I want him to get back together with mummy because it always takes so long before I can visit him again.”

So after all she seemed to already have a father. Some kind of father. Not like anyone needed one in his eyes. “Is his girlfriend nice?”

“Yes, but she’s not as nice as mummy.”

“Of course.”

“But why aren’t you talking?”

He sighed. “I’m just tired. Hey, what about we go in there and I get a coffee so I’m less tired?” He really, really needed one right now.

“Can I get a cookie? Blake always gets me a cookie when she gets herself tea.”

“Of course.” Anything so she wouldn’t bother him too much. “Duck your head”, he said before walking into the small coffee shop.

“Oh, they have cake!”

“But they also have cookies.” And the cookie would probably be way less of a mess. “Know what you want?”

“Chocolate.”

“Coffee and a chocolate cookie”, he told the woman behind the counter and tried to get his purse from his back pocket without dropping Rose to the floor.

“She looks just like you”, the woman said while getting a bag for the cookie.

Yeah, definitely what he needed today. He didn’t really want to explain the situation to her, so he just pulled a bank note from his purse.

“Can I eat the cookie right now?”, Rosie asked. “I already had breakfast.”

“You’ll just get the crumbs in my hair, we’ll wait until we’re at the office.”

“I promise I won’t get any crumbs in your hair. I’ll be careful.”

He sighed, waiting for the woman to hand him his change and the coffee. “Don’t make any promises you can’t keep.”

“I can keep the promise!” She sounded upset now and he really, really didn’t want to deal with that.

“How about I get you something you can have on your way to the office”, the woman said before this could get ugly. She took a cup standing next to the coffee machine. Well, at least it had a straw. “I made the wrong smoothie just ten minutes ago, do you like strawberries?”

“Yes!” Rose cheered, all happy again, and Mercury didn’t want to risk taking it away from her now, so he just put the cookie into his bag, took his change and coffee and forced himself to smile before he left the coffee shop.

The smoothie kept her quiet until they arrived at the office. But as soon as her feet touched the floor she ran inside. “Emmy, I got a smoothie!”, she yelled and he could hear Emerald answering just as excitedly. At least that gave him time to put her lunch into the fridge and get her a glass of the homemade ice tea (without sugar, of course without sugar) Yang had packed her today.

Everything went fine until Rose was napping and Emerald slammed her hands on Mercury’s desk to get his attention. He pulled his headphones off. “Yeah?”

“Cinder will be here in ten minutes.”

“What?” He sat up.

“She came back earlier than expected. What are we going to do with Rose?”

“Well, fuck.”

“Don’t say that, she could hear you!”

He groaned. “That’s not the main problem here. Can we hide her somewhere?”

“She’s sleeping, where do you want to-“

“What if we just close the door to the waiting room and hope Cinder won’t need that one today?”

“Do you honestly thing that will go well? She’ll wake up in about an hour.”

“And we’ll check in on her regularly and tell her to stay in that room and not make a sound.”

“Mercury, honestly, why does anyone trust you with children? Do you even know anything about them?”

“I know I can’t lose this job.” Especially not because of a child he only cared about because it saved him a ton of money.

“Well, if you can’t pay the rent I swear I will throw you out.”

She wouldn’t and they both knew that, but they were both also not eager to risk it. He got up. Rose was peacefully sleeping on the couch, using Emerald’s sweater as a blanket. He carefully closed the door. “She won’t notice, she barely ever leaves her office”, he whispered.

“If you say so.” Emerald nervously bit her lip.

“Just… no appointments today?”

“None.” She sighed. “I just hope she won’t kick both of us out for this.”

He could barely concentrate on his code. When Cinder finally arrived he almost jumped out of his chair. She didn’t bother to talk to them, he could only hear her heels on the floor and the paws of her monstrosity of a dog. She closed the door to her office behind her and everything fell silent again.

“Guess it worked”, he whispered. Emerald just rolled her eyes and nervously moved some things around on her desk.

He checked on Rose half an hour later, but she was still sleeping. He hoped she would stay asleep and went back to work, nervously going through the mails Cinder didn’t want to answer herself.

Next time he wanted to check on Rose the door to the waiting room was open and she was gone.

“Fuck”, he hissed. He looked under the couch, just to be sure, before he checked the kitchen and the restroom. No Rose in sight. He went back to his office. Emerald was doing some calculation he couldn’t get behind. “Em!”

“Hm?” She looked up.

“Rose is gone.”

Emerald’s jaw dropped. “What do you mean gone?”

“She’s not in the waiting room anymore, neither in the restroom or kitchen. Where the hell could she be?”

“I’ll look in the staircase.” She got up and basically ran out of the room. He followed her. God, Yang would kill him. What she had already been hit by a car? Kidnapped? Part of a child pornography ring? The thought made him sick.  

He ran his fingers through his hair. When he turned around he was too scared to be relieved. The door to Cinder’s office was open. “Emerald”, he said.

“What?” She was ready to open the door to the stairway, then followed his gaze. “Oh.”

He slowly moved closer until he saw her. Sitting on the ground, her arms wrapped about the massive neck of Cinder’s hell dog.

“Rose, don’t move”, he said when he stepped inside. Grimm was one of those dogs that would likely get confused with a bear. He growled when he saw Mercury.

“No, don’t be mean to him”, Rose said, patting Grimm’s head. He turned around and for a moment Mercury thought he would bite her, was ready to try to somehow get that beast away from her, but he just licked her face and Rose giggled.

“I always told you he’s not mean, he just doesn’t like you”, Cinder said. She was standing next to her desk, arms crossed in front of her chest. “Why don’t we discuss this outside?”

He was so screwed. “I’m dead if that thing bites her face off or something.”

“Do you really think I’d let a child alone with a child eating dog?” She rolled her eyes and walked out of the room. “Do you really think I’d _own_ a child eating dog?”

He couldn’t really think of a reason why she wouldn’t. He followed her into his office, crossing his arms behind his head. “I can explain that”, he said. He looked at Emerald, but she seemed to be just as nervous as he was.

“Where did you steal her?”, Cinder asked.

“Why does everyone assume I stole that child?”

“Because who would trust you with a child? You can’t even keep a plant alive. So?” She sat down at his desk and raised her eyebrows.

“She’s my daughter”, he said before he could think too much about it. It was easier to say it out loud when it was supposed to be a lie in front of the one person in the room who counted.

Cinder seemed surprised for a moment. “You never mentioned having a daughter.”

“My ex moved into town only recently. Started a new job, can’t take her with her.”

“So you thought you could just take her with you?”

“Well, I didn’t really have a choice. Apparently it counts as negligence to leave your five year old home alone.”

“You should be glad your daughter is so adorable, because otherwise I would have thrown you out.” Cinder got up. “Bring her as often as you like, she can play with Grimm while I’m working as you two don’t get along with him at all.” She got up. “I can’t believe you made such a pretty child, I’m dying to see her mum”, she said as she left.

Mercury stared at Emerald, baffled. “Was it really just as easy as that?”, he asked and shook his head.

“Mercury Black, I swear I will kill you.” She groaned and stepped closer until she was right in front of him. “Did you just tell Cinder she’s your daughter?”, she whispered.

“It seems more urgent that way, okay?” He tried to tell himself that it was completely fine to lie to her until he was sure she actually was his daughter. “Not like she cares anyway.”

“She now thinks you have a daughter. Hell, how are you going to get out of this?”

“I’ll just tell her I lost custody at some point, or she doesn’t want to have anything to do with me anymore, I don’t know. But she’s alright with her being here, that’s good, isn’t it?”

“I’m totally honest here, I like Rose, but how often are you planning on bringing her to work?”

How many years would it take until she could be left home alone? Well, she’d be going to school soon obviously, Yang had said that, but he wasn’t stupid enough to assume Yang wouldn’t continue asking her to take care of Rose.

“Rose is adorable, how could I say no?”, he finally said.

“You don’t even like her.”

“Hey that’s not true.” He just didn’t like children in general. Or people. “Just… her mother is really hot, okay?”

“God, I hate you.” She boxed his arm and went back to her desk. “Just hope that shrinked bear continues liking Rose.”


	5. Chapter 5

Mercury had a wonderful childfree weekend. Not as wonderful as it could have been because Emerald actually made him clean the whole apartment, even his own bedroom, but at least he managed to push the thought of Rose away until Wednesday, when Yang dropped her off at his place again.

“You cleaned”, she said, almost impressed.

“Emerald cleaned.”

“Can I play with Grimm again?”, Rose asked, wrapping her arms around his legs. He flinched, but forced himself to let her. She was used to prosthetics after all, her mother had one as well. Rose knew about his legs. He still felt more uncomfortable than he dared to admit.

“Well, if he’s there today.” He probably was, they were rarely lucky enough for Cinder to leave him at home.

“I got something for you”, Yang said nervously, fumbling around with her bag before she pulled an envelope out. “I didn’t open it yet.”

He took it, looked at the logo of some laboratory. “Oh, so soon?”

“I said I’ve got a friend there.”

So there it was, his way out or his death sentence. “Alright.”

“Do you want to open it now?”

“No.” Not in front of her. He didn’t want to grand her the satisfaction of being right, even though he already knew she was. “I’ll look at it later.”

“What is it?”, Rose asked.

“Boring stuff with numbers”, he said. “Only Emerald thinks that’s interesting.”

“Alright then”, Yang said, hesitant to leave.

“When will you pick her up?”

“Five, like always. Remember to put her lunch into the fridge.”

“Sure.” He shoved the envelope into his bag. “Anything else?”

“No.” She sighed and got on her knees. “Okay, Rosie, see you tonight.”

When Rose had hugged and kissed Yang goodbye she was immediately clinging to him again. “Mum and Blake took me to the zoo this weekend”, she said. “I saw a bear that looks just like Grimm, but mum says you can’t cuddle real bears.”

He still wasn’t sure how she managed to cuddle Grimm, but he just picked up the bags and sighed. “Well, then let’s go and see if he’s there.”

He carried her on his shoulders again, and she seemed to love it. She pointed at things she wanted to show him and talked about the zoo, every animal she had seen her and everything she had eaten this weekend.

When they arrived Cinder opened the door to her office. “Grimm is in the waiting room”, she said. “Let her play with him. He’s bored.” Same tone she used when she was telling him to fix a bug in his code.

“Sure”, he said, watching Rose storm into the waiting room.

For some reason Rose loved that stupid dog, but the worst part was that he also loved her. He followed her around wherever she went, which meant that the beast was in his office much more often than Mercury would have liked. Emerald had to stop Rose from sharing her lunch with the dog and for naptime the beast laid down on the sofa with her, letting Rose use him as a pillow.

“I think he just wants to gain her trust so he can eat her in peace”, he said to Emerald. “He growls and barks at everyone who enters the office, everyone but Cinder.”

“I think he really loves her.”

“Remember that time he bit me?”

“To be fair, he bit your leg and that one’s not even real.”

“Traitor.”

She chuckled. “Come on, she’s adorable.”

“She’s a child, children invented adorable, doesn’t mean I have to like them. But that dog… remember when we had to walk him and he almost ran after some kid playing football in the park?”

“He probably just wanted to play with him.”

“Would you risk that on your own child?”

“I think the desert will bloom before we two have children.”

He shook his head, trying not to think of the letter he had shoved deep into the drawer of his desk.

He went back to work when he suddenly heard a high pitched scream, a loud bang and Grimm started to bark as loud as he could. He froze.

“What- oh no.” Emerald got up, but Mercury stormed past her into the kitchen. Rose was lying on the floor and for a moment he actually thought she was dead before she started to cry. He couldn’t move, didn’t move until Emerald shoved him aside so she could enter the kitchen.

“Oh, Rose, what happened?” She kneeled down next to Rose and Grimm finally stopped barking. “Where does it hurt?”

It took a moment until Rose managed to get some words out. “My foot”, she sobbed, sitting up. He couldn’t help but to feel somewhat relieved.

“Merc, come here”, Emerald ordered. It took him a moment before he could move, then he sat down next to Rose. “Okay, hold her while I have a look at that.”

He didn’t even know how. He awkwardly wrapped his arms around Rose’s tiny waist, and she threw herself into his arms, buried her face in his chest and sobbed into his shirt.

“Okay, Rose, does that hurt?”, Emerald said, carefully trying to move her ankle, but she whined and Emerald let go of it. “I think we should better let a doctor have a look at this.”

“That means we have to call Yang.” She would rip his head off.

“I’ll call her, just… keep hugging her.” Emerald got up and opened the fridge. She found a frozen carton of milk inside (half a year ago Emerald had thought it would be a great idea to freeze everything within her reach to reduce food waste) and wrapped it into the only clean kitchen towel they had. “Here, press that on her ankle.”

So here he was, holding Rose close while she was still crying, pressing frozen milk on her ankle while the hell dog tried to lick Rose’s face. “Okay, so… does it still hurt?”, he asked. It only led to her crying even more. “Oh no, come on.” He sighed and stroked her back. “It will be alright, okay?” He hated watching her cry even more than he wanted to admit.

It took ages for Emerald to come back. In the meantime Grimm had started to lick his face and both his arms were occupied, so he couldn’t stop him. “Yang didn’t answer her phone”, she said. “But the notebook says to call Blake if something happens and she said we should bring her to a hospital. She’ll try to be there was soon as possible. Also Cinder is borrowing us her car.”

“Sure you didn’t just steal her keys?”

“She likes Rose.” Emerald shrugged. “Can you carry her?”

“Sure.” He sighed. Rose wrapped her arms around his neck when he got up. She had to sit on his lap on the ride to the hospital because they weren’t able to convince her to let go of him without her crying even more. Luckily enough it wasn’t far away anyway. He was still carrying her when they went inside.

“I will talk to them”, Emerald said. “Apparently I’m the only one here who read the damn notebook or could you tell me her insurance information?”

“Fair enough”, he said. “I’ll wait there.”

She was still sobbing from time to time for good measure, but at least she had calmed down a bit. He sat down with her, his shirt drenched with her tears. “Still hurting?”

“Yes.” She sounded miserable.

“It’s probably just sprained. It will be alright in a couple of days.”

“Does that mean I’ll get a metal foot like you and mum?”

Oh, hell. Not that. Not now. He sighed and patted her back. “No.”

“How do you know that? Maybe it’s bad and they have to take it off.”

“No one loses a leg by falling down from a kitchen counter.”

“How did you lose your legs?”

He closed his eyes for a moment. That story was certainly not child appropriate and Yang would have been glad to know he had no intention of telling her about it. “Emerald and I were searching for a gold treasure in Brazil”, he said eventually. “But it was guarded by a big crocodile. So when we wanted to get it, it got me and bit my legs off. Emerald had to carry me all the way back home.”

“Did you get to take the treasure with you?”, she asked. Good Lord, she was actually buying it.

“Only two coins made of pure gold. We gave one to a pirate who took us back home on his ship.”

“And the other one?”

“I gave it to Emerald for carrying me all the way back home.”

She sniffed and leaned her head back against his chest, but at least she had stopped crying now. “I want to be a treasure hunter too when I grow up.”

Yang would be thrilled to hear that. “Sure?”

“Yeah. But I won’t be stupid and get eaten by a crocodile.”

Fair enough. “Yeah, better take care that doesn’t happen. Do you want to sit down on your own chair?”

“No.”

He sighed. Well, she was a child. Apparently children wanted to be hugged. Not that he had any experience with that. His own childhood had been completely different from the one Rose had now, but that was definitely nothing he wanted to think about now or ever. “Does it still hurt?”

“Yes.”

“Bad?”

“Yeeees.” It sounded too miserable to be convincing. He smirked, for a moment glad she was not as badly injured.

Emerald came back shortly afterwards, accompanied by a nurse. “Follow me”, she said. “The doctor will be there in a minute.”

So now they waited in a small, white room. Rose wrapped her small arms around him even tighter now. “I’m scared of doctors”, she whispered. Yeah, he totally needed that on top of everything else.

“This doctor is not like everyone else”, Emerald said. She sat down next to them and stroked Rose’s head. “Nothing bad will happen.”

“But what if I have to get an injection?”

“Probably just a bandage. Maybe an X-ray.”

“What’s an X-ray?”

“They look inside your body”, Mercury said, but it only made her sob again.

“You won’t even feel anything”, Emerald said and nudged his arm as a warning. “It’s like… a photograph. But a special one, because it can see through your skin.”

“How does it do that?”

“Magic”, Mercury said sarcastically, which earned him a slap on the back of his had from Emerald, but Rose seemed to be alright with that explanation.

When the doctor finally arrived Rose clung to him like she was about to get slaughtered. He hugged her tightly. It reminded him too much of himself at that age, far more than he was comfortable with.

“So, that’s Rose?”, the doctor asked, an older woman who at least looked friendly.

“She’s a bit… shy with doctors”, Emerald said.

“That’s alright, so how about you turn around for me? Then you can stay on your daddy’s lap.”

Why did everyone assume he was her father? Not that they were wrong, but he still didn’t need that. “Come on”, he said, and Rose finally let go of his neck. He helped her to turn around and wrapped his arms around her tightly.

“So, you fell from the kitchen counter?”, the doctor asked while carefully taking off her shoe.

“In wanted to see what’s inside the cabinets”, Rose whispered, wiping away a single tear.

“Does that hurt?”, the doctor asked and carefully moved the ankle.

“Yes. A bit.”

“Well, it’s definitely not broken”, the doctor said. “I’ll make you a bandage and if it doesn’t get better in a couple of days you have to see a doctor again.”

“Alright, we’ll make sure to have an eye on it”, Emerald said.

Rose was digging her fingernails into his arms when the doctor bandaged her foot. He just let her and wondered why the girl would cling to him while seeking comfort, to him of all people. He didn’t even trust himself. There was no doubt he would be a shitty father, even if he didn’t think he’d turn out like his own. He didn’t know how to handle children, he had no patience, he didn’t even like children, even though Rose didn’t seem too bad.

“There you go”, the doctor said. “That’s it. Just make sure to see a doctor if it doesn’t get better.”

“Thank you”, Emerald said. Rose turned around on his lap to bury her face in Mercury’s chest again, but at least that made it easier to carry her.  

They sat down again to wait for Blake. Rose didn’t want to let go of him, still scared and upset, and he hated that it made him feel upset too. He had never consider himself weak for things like that, but seeing the usually so cheerful little girl like that was harder for him than it should have been.

“She’s asleep”, Emerald said eventually.

“Huh?”

“Rose. She fell asleep in your arms.” She smiled. “She really adores you.”

He sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. He was still holding her close, tempted to lean his head against hers, and the worst part was that when Blake showed up there might not be a good moment to tell her not to tell Emerald about their situation. “Em…”, he said and looked up, not sure how to start this. “You know, there’s something I didn’t tell you.”

“What?” She narrowed her eyebrows. He had to look away, he couldn’t stand her gaze.

“You know that story I told Cinder about Rose and why I have to take care of her?”

“Do you have to change that story again?”

“What if it was true?”

“Mercury, what the fuck?”

“Hey, mind your language in front of the child.”

She punched his forearm. “What the… Mercury?!”

“I’m just telling you because Blake might just mention it anyway, so-“

“Well, when were you going to tell me? Hell, how did you never mention this? When did that even happen?”

“I didn’t know about it, okay? She only told me a week ago. I had no idea. I worked with her for a summer, had- put good use to the back room of that restaurant with her, went on a couple of dates, then she suddenly disappeared and I didn’t see her again until she waited for me on my doormat and said she’d make me pay for five years of child support if I didn’t agree on being her babysitter, what was I supposed to do?” He lowered his voice because he sure as hell didn’t want Rose to wake up on this conversation, but Emerald still sounded so angry when she spoke again.

“You should have told me. Is that what’s been bugging you all week? That she’s- god, this is just insane. You? Having a-“

“She doesn’t know, okay? She thinks I’m just her mum’s friend.”

“I mean that explains why she looks so much like you.”

“Come on, not you too.”

“But this is just… why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because I didn’t want to talk about it. You would have made me.”

“Yeah, because your coping strategies are unhealthy. Did you make a test?”

“Yes, but I didn’t look at the results yet. Left the envelope at the office actually.”

“Idiot. You stupid idiot.” She shook her head. “I’ve been so worried all week.”

“Worried? Why?”

“Because you’ve been acting weird, you didn’t sleep well without sleeping in my bed, you barely talked to me. I knew you were hiding something, but that’s just… oh, hell.”

Sometimes he hated her knowing him so well. “She said it’s only for a couple of months until she’s in school.”

“Shut your mouth before I need to tell you in non child appropriate language how stupid you are. We’ll talk about this later.”

He sighed. Well, she sure as hell wasn’t going to let him get away with that.

They waited for another ten minutes in silence, then Blake arrived, a woman with black hair who looked relatively calm next to Yang who walked beside her, who seemed about to either cry or rip someone’s throat, maybe both. “Oh, shit”, Mercury whispered. “She’s going to kill me.”

“Use the child as a shield”, Emerald said.

“Rose?”, Yang said, panic in her voice as she approached them.

“She’s asleep”, Mercury said quickly. He wanted her to stay asleep. She was way easier to handle that way. “It’s not that bad.”

“It’s not broken, just see a doctor if it doesn’t get better in a couple of days”, Emerald said.

“What even happened?” Yang kneeled down in front of Mercury and gently stroked Rose’s hair.

“She was sleeping, then she woke up and went to the kitchen, wanted to see what’s in the cabinets and fell from the kitchen counter.” Mercury sighed.

“Yeah, that’s such a Rose thing to do.” Yang shook her head and got up. “Well, let’s walk home.”

“We can give you a ride”, Emerald said and Mercury had to keep himself from rolling his eyes.

“That would be wonderful. I don’t have a car, makes things a bit complicated sometimes.”

More complicated for him. He got up, Rose still peacefully sleeping in his arms. “Let’s go then.”

“So, you’re his co-worker?”, Yang asked Emerald.

“Yes, and roommate.” It didn’t even come close to the truth, but that was none of Yang’s business.

“Don’t worry”, Blake whispered next to him, slowing down so Yang and Emerald would walk a few steps ahead from them. “Rose does stuff like that all the time. She had more broken bones than any other sane child. Yang won’t be mad at you.”

“I was already fearing for my life. But she could have warned me.”

“She probably thought you wouldn’t take care of her then. It was hard enough to convince her to finally talk to you about her, took me six years.”

He didn’t answer, because he actually wasn’t sure anymore if he would have preferred her telling him years ago or not at all.

Rose kept sleeping in his arms when Emerald drove them to Yang’s place. He only now thought about the fact he hadn’t even known where Yang lived.

“Do you want me to take her?”, Yang asked.

“She’ll just wake up, I can carry her upstairs.”

Yang lived in an old building, but the apartment looked big and bright. “I share it with Blake”, she said as if he had wanted to know. “Her room is over there.”

Rose’s room was so colourful it hurt his eyes. Yellow walls, covered with pictures she had drawn, toys, plushies and books. Yang pulled the blanket back. He carefully laid Rose down, her arms still wrapped around his neck. When he got up again he almost missed her warmth. He watched Yang carefully taking off Rose’s show and covering her with the blanket, kissing her forehead before she got up. He bit his lip.

They left the room without a word, because they didn’t want to wake her up. Probably, he didn’t really care. He crossed the arms in front of his chest, following her into the living room and staring at the awfully comfortable couch, the photographs on the wall and everything that screamed what an awfully happy family lived inside here. Emerald was sitting on the couch with Blake, because of course she did, of course she had to force him to stay here even longer.

“Do you want a cup of coffee?”, Yang asked.

“No”, he said harshly. He regretted not composing his voice immediately when Emerald turned to look at him worriedly.

“We have to bring the car back”, Emerald said quickly and got up.

“Thanks for getting Rose to the doctor”, Blake said when Emerald was already pulling Mercury out of the room and through the door.

“What was that?”, he asked as they walked down the stairs. She didn’t answer, instead she stopped and pulled him into a hug. “Stop that”, he growled.

“Don’t even try to deny this got to you.”

“What?”

“All of this.”

He sighed and leaned into the hug. He wasn’t even sure if they meant the same thing. She was probably rather thinking about Rose getting hurt, not that watching her being safe and comforted was what had actually upset him so much. He hated that getting so much to him, he hated not having any control over it.

“Let’s go now”, he said eventually and she let go of him, nodded and stroked his arm for a moment before they went back to the car.

“She said I don’t have to do that whole… thing”, he said when Emerald started the motor. “I don’t have to, and honestly, I would just be bad at it.”

“Come on. That’s bullshit.”

“Emerald, you said yourself you wouldn’t trust me with a child.”

“Because I haven’t ever seen you with one before. But Rose loves you.”

“ _Em_. It’s not like she needs me. She has this disgustingly happy home where everything for some reason seems to be just in place, her mum’s a bitch, but not to her, her mum’s ex-boyfriend even still buys her Christmas presents. What could I offer to add to that?”

“Stupid self-doubts.”

“See, she doesn’t need that.”

“Well, anyway. You’re going to open that test now.”

“What if I don’t want to?”

“Then I will do it, because I’m not having that with you again, Merc. Everything you ever do is running away from your problems. No, not if I can stop you.”

“I’m not running from anything, shut up.”

“No, not if I’m the one who has to deal with you being insufferable.”

He fell silent, stared out of the window for the rest of the ride to the office while sulking. Trying to keep himself from thinking about Rose, his childhood, but he had never been good at that.

When they arrived back at the office and he didn’t even try to stop her when she went straight to his desk. “Top drawer”, he said. He had no chance against her.

“This one?”, she asked. He nodded. She opened the envelope and pulled the letter out without even asking. He probably would have done the same. “Want to read it yourself?”

“No.”

She sighed and unfolded the letter while he sat down on his chair, staring out of the window. “Oh, well”, she said eventually. “You’re the father.”

“Yeah, I know.” He wasn’t surprised at all.

“Really? How?”

“She looks like my mother.”

Emerald fell silent and Mercury knew exactly why. He had never mentioned his mother before. “I don’t want to talk about it”, he said eventually. “But yeah, apart from her hair colour and smile…”

“I didn’t know you have met your mother.”

“What about I don’t want to talk about it didn’t you get?”

“I got that you’re an idiot who runs away from everything and that I will not support your unhealthy attitude of not talking about anything personal.”

He sighed and turned around to look at her. “She left when I was eleven.”

“You said she had died.”

“I mean she could be dead, who knows?”

Emerald shook her head. “Does that make it harder for you?”, she asked.

He rolled his eyes. “I think I’ve had enough time to get over it.”

“I meant with Rose. Because she looks like her.”

 “Sometimes I really hate you.” He got up just so he could get out of her gaze for a moment. “I don’t know.”

“Oh, Merc.”

“No, don’t do that.”

“Yeah, I know.” She sighed and went over to her desk. “You really got yourself into something.”

“I know that, Em”, he growled. “No need to remind me.”


	6. Chapter 6

****

It was their usual routine. They sat down on the couch, ordered pizza and when she cuddled him he acted like he was totally annoyed by it, so he didn’t have to admit in front of her nor himself how much he needed it.

When his phone buzzed he almost just ignored it. He sighed and looked at the display. “It’s Yang.”

“Then answer it”, Emerald said.

“No.” He rested his head on Emerald’s stomach again.

“Give me that.” She took the phone out of his hand. “Yeah?” He growled and shifted a little. He could hear Yang’s voice, but not understand what she was saying. “Merc, can you take Rose on Friday?”, Emerald asked.

“It’s my day off.”

“Oh, great. Yeah, he’s free.”

“That was supposed to be a no.”  He sat up and took the phone out of her hand. “Do I have to?”, he asked.

“Oh, hey”, Yang said and he felt the urge to just end the call. “Yeah, it is. Blake can’t take her and I have this really important meeting. Why don’t you just take her to the zoo or something?”

“Hasn’t she just been there?”

“She’s there all the time, she loves the zoo and she can spend hours watching the meerkats. Most of the time you’ll just sit and watch her watching them. Your biggest problem is her running away.”

“Oh, that’s totally encouraging.”

“I told her not to do that anymore.”

Emerald poked him so he would look at her, then rolled her eyes. He shook his head. She poked him again. He sighed. “Yeah, alright, whatever. I’ll think of something.”

“Great, thank you so much. I’ll drop her off at nine.”

He hung up before she could say goodbye. “So we’re going to the zoo on Friday.”

“We?”

“You’re in this with me too now.” He rested his head on her stomach again. “Also you love her, I know you want to go anyway.”

“Yeah, okay. But why are you so mad at Yang?”

“She didn’t tell me I had a child for almost six years”, he growled.

“Yeah, but is it just that? You’re just so… usually when you’re that mad at someone it’s something personal.”

“We didn’t separate as best friends. I mean she basically just dumped me. Disappeared, never talked to me again. I mean we weren’t dating or anything, but I just… I mean it’s rude. Not that I care. Not that I cared back then. I just think she’s a bitch.” She didn’t answer, just ran her fingers through his hair and that was worse than anything she could have said. “Come on, I really don’t care. Okay, maybe I cared a bit back then. Are you happy now?”

“Yeah, sure.”

“Em!”

“Do you really want me to say it?”

“No. But is it too much asked for just not to think it as well?”

“Yes. But I won’t bother you with that today. Not on top of everything else.”

“You’re the worst, Em.”

She softly ran her fingers over his sculp. “If you say so.”


	7. Chapter 7

Rose’s ankle had obviously not been that bad because when Yang dropped her off on Friday she was happily jumping through his flat already. “Are we going to the zoo?”, she said, hugging his legs tightly.

“Rose, I told you to take it slow.” Yang sighed and handed Mercury the bag with Rose’s stuff. “Please make sure she doesn’t run around too much, I think she’s overdoing it a bit with her ankle.”

Oh, great. Now he had to stop an overly excited child from running around and jumping up and down, two of her favourite activities. “Anything else?”

“Sandwiches for lunch, make sure she drinks enough. She’s wearing sun lotion, but you have to reapply it.”

“Got it”, he said coldly.

“Alright.” She got on her knees to hug Rose goodbye. “Please behave. Do what he says. Stay by his side. No running away today, okay? Always hold his hand and if you want to see the meerkats take him with you. I know you know where the meerkats are, but he doesn’t and then he won’t find you again. And we don’t try to climb into any compounds, I know that lamas won’t eat you, but _no climbing into compounds_ , Rose, got it?” How reassuring.

“Yes, mummy”, Rose said and rolled her eyes, but she laughed and squeaked when Yang pretended to bite her neck.

“Behave. See you tonight, have fun, okay?”

“I’ll say hi to the meerkats from you.”

As soon as Yang had closed the door behind her Rose was jumping up and down again. “Do you know the zoo? I love the zoo. I know all the animals and some of the zookeepers. Jeffrey got me out of the lama compound once and he explained you’re not supposed to go in there. I didn’t know that. Now I know that. He didn’t say anything about donkeys though.”

“Okay, we can go to the zoo, but only if you promise not to visit the donkeys. Or any other animals.” This promised to be a fun day. “Em, are you ready?”

“Almost”, she yelled from the kitchen.

They took the bus to the zoo. Rose insisted on sitting on Mercury’s lap, but she told Emerald all about every animal there she had seen before. It was a warm and sunny day, several families were visiting the zoo today and as soon as they got their tickets and walked through the gate Rose was already running towards the big sign. “Let’s hope she won’t climb into the lion compound today”, he said to Emerald while following Rose.

“Seems less and less unlikely to me.”

“See, there’s a map”, Rose said excitedly. “I want to see all the animals. They get jealous if I don’t visit all of them, but they’re not mad if I look at some a bit longer, Blake said that.”

“Which ones do you want to visit first?”, Emerald asked.

“Meerkats. Then the other animals. Then the meerkats again.”

“You really like the meerkats, don’t you?”

“Yes. I love them.”

After all they were as hyperactive as Rose was. Mercury looked around. The zoo wasn’t exactly crowded, but still. Many ways for her to get lost here. “Rose, how about you get on my shoulders again? Then you can watch the animals way better.”

“Oh, yes!”, she cheered.

Of course they couldn’t go to the meerkats directly without greeting all the other animals along the way. At least she couldn’t get lost while sitting on his shoulders, or climb over a fence to pet the dromedaries (though Emerald had to explain to her why that wasn’t a good idea). He let her down when they reached the meerkats, watched her pressing her hands against the glass while he and Emerald sat down on a bench.

“She’s adorable”, Emerald said.

“Stressful. Can you imagine having her around all day? Always taking care she doesn’t get lost or gets herself eaten by a hungry goat?”

“Okay, but actually you have it pretty easy. You get a daughter, but you skipped the really hard years, never had to change a diaper, didn’t have to teach her not to eat mud.”

“Yeah, but… I don’t even know how this parenting thing works. I never learned it when she was too young to notice. I’m glad Yang didn’t tell her.”

“She has to tell her eventually.”

“Do you think so?”

“What else do you think will happen? You’re in her life now. People already notice how much you two look alike. She’ll get behind who you really are eventually. And then you can’t leave anymore. Not having a father is one thing, but having a father and watching him leave another. This is not just about you anymore.”

“So I won’t get around that?”

“I mean maybe. Maybe she doesn’t notice, maybe you can just stop seeing her and she will forget about you. After all you were right, she will be fine without you, she has a loving mother and a happy childhood. But when she grows up she’ll have questions and I think Yang will tell her the truth eventually. It’s not your fault, but now you’re kinda stuck with her. But you’re also right, she doesn’t know yet, so you get some time to get used to this whole thing before she can start to have expectations.”

He watched Rose for a moment, how she talked to the meerkats, completely happy and occupied. “You thought about this a lot, didn’t you?”

“Yes. Also about how we could turn that storage room into a nice room for her.”

“Oh, you can’t be serious. I wanted to use it as an office.”

“If you really want to pull through with your own thing you’d have to get a real office anyway. We’d have to get rid of all the junk in there, but everything we’d have to do then is getting a bed for her and painting the walls. Also a carpet.”

“Let’s push that decision a bit, okay?”

“A bit.” Which meant she’d totally talk to him about it in at least a couple of days. Rose was now kneeling in front of the glass fence, talking to one of the meerkats that curiously looked at her.

“I don’t even know how involved I’d have to be”, he said. “You know, if I’d be a full part-time dad or just someone who gets her a birthday present and takes care of her from time to time.”

“You have to give her some sort of stability. That’s for sure. You have to be someone who is there for her, so she knows she can always count on you. If she has her own room at your house you will signal her that she always has a place in your life. So she won’t end up asking herself if she’s even welcome at your home or just bothering you, whether or not you even want her, because she only gets to sleep on the couch under a blanket that smells like sweat and beer. You can’t just let her into your life and then get rid of her.”

He sighed and looked at her, but she was staring at Rose, avoiding his gaze. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close.

“Stop it”, she growled.

“She can have that room. Just do with it whatever you want. I think she’ll love it anyway.” It wasn’t even about Rose, they both knew that. But if she wanted to spoil her to deal with her very own issues he wasn’t going to stop her.

“I hate you.” She leaned her head against his shoulder. “Do you think she likes mint? I mean for the walls.”

“I’m sure she’d love it.” He stroked her arm to make her feel better, but it didn’t seem to work.

“I want to see the bears now”, Rose said cheerfully when she came back to them. “And tell them about Grimm. Can we see the bears now?”

“How about I get us some ice cream first?”, Emerald asked, trying to compose her voice.

“But it’s early in the morning.”

“Ice cream sounds wonderful”, Mercury said. He helped Rose when she tried to climb on his lap. “She’s a bit sad right now”, he whispered to Rose when Emerald was already leaving. “Ice cream makes her happy again.”

“Oh, okay.” Rose nodded. “Why is she sad?”

“Something… that’s been a long while ago.”

“And what?”

Hell, how was he supposed to explain that to her? “She thought about her first cat, it died a while ago.”

“Oh no, that’s really sad.”

“I mean it was a very old cat. Actually the oldest cat in the world.”

“Grandpa is old, too.”

“Yeah, but that cat was way older. I think it knew a few dinosaurs personally.”

“That’s veeery old.” She nodded, pleased with his answer. “Can I ask you something personal? Mum says you can’t ask something personal without asking. Maybe that person doesn’t want to be asked something personal.”

“Yeah, sure.” Oh, hell.

“Is Emmy your girlfriend?”

He chuckled. “No.”

“But you live together and she likes you a lot and you are cuddling.”

“She’s gay.”

“What does that mean?”

He sighed. So that conversation. “She only has girlfriends.”

“Oh, yeah. Just like Weiss.”

He had no idea who that was, but he was pleased that concept wasn’t really new to her. “Yeah, sure.”

“So you could be mummy’s boyfriend?”

“What?” He almost choked on that word, clearing his throat to cover it up.

“She doesn’t have a boyfriend and Emmy is not your girlfriend, so you could be her boyfriend and then you could live with us and I could see you every day.”

“But… Em would be sad if I moved out.”

“She can move in with us as well.”

“Okay, but…” He didn’t even like her mum. Once he had liked her too much, everything it got him had been the worst mood for months and a daughter. “I mean she seems pretty happy without a boyfriend.”

“But I want to see you more often.”

That was clearly not what he had intended. “You can come and visit.”

“Can I?”

“Yeah, sure. Whenever you like. Em loves having you around.”

“I love Em, too.”

He smiled, watching Emerald coming back to them, trying not to drop three cones of ice cream. “Yeah, me too.”

The ice cream stopped Rose from walking too fast for a while, but afterwards Emerald and Mercury struggled to keep track of her, constantly trying to stop her from running away.

“I swear, I will never agree on this again”, Mercury growled while he looked around, but everything he could see were reptile terrariums. The first time they had lost her had scared him to death, made him picture every horrible scenario in his head. Every time it happened afterwards was just as bad.

“This is the fourth time we lost her, I can’t believe it happened again. This time I really, really tried to keep an eye on her.” Emerald ran her fingers through her hair, trying to keep her composure.

“She’s probably been kidnapped or trying to cuddle a snake. Damn.” He turned around. “I’ll go and look for her outside, you stay in here.”

He went outside, but he couldn’t see her and this time he was sure he had lost her. There were stories about parents losing their children and never seeing them again, spending their live searching without a trace. He growled and looked around the corner, trying to think of where a five year old would go and how he could make everyone search the damn zoo for her before someone could ship her to a rich paedophile.

Then he saw her, leaning on the fence to a compound and letting a goat lick her hands. “Rose!”, he yelled, walking towards her. “Where the hell have you been?”

“I’ve been saying hello to the goats.”

“You can’t just walk off like that”, he said harshly. “We talked about this, this is not the first time, what did your mother say about that? No running away!” He felt all his frustration leave him with the words, feeling relieved and drained.

“I just wanted to see the goats.” She turned around to look at him, her tiny shoulders crouched before she started to cry.

“Oh no, Rose. Please don’t”, he mumbled but it was already too late. Now she was crying, because of him, and it clenched his throat. He had yelled at her without any reason and he didn’t know whether to concentrate on the crying child in front of him or the memories it brought back up. Each option worse than the other. He didn’t dare to touch her. What he had done to her was bad enough already. There she was, a perfectly happy child just a couple of minutes ago, and now he had broken her.

It felt like forever until Emerald was suddenly beside him. “Here you are”, she said, kneeling down next to Rose. “Hey, what happened?”

Rose didn’t get a word out. Emerald wrapped her into her arms, but it still took minutes until she finally spoke. “I… I just wanted to see the goats.” It only made her sob harder. “I didn’t want to run away.”

“Hey, it’s alright. Look, I think the goat likes you. I mean you haven’t really been far away, have you?”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright, okay? We’re not mad.” She hugged her tightly and Mercury could see how much Emerald was trying not to start crying as well. Things like that got to her so easily. Especially with children. Maybe their friendship only worked because they were screwed up in a similar way. “Would you like to get some ice cream?”, Emerald asked. “Would that make you happy?”

“Yes”, Rose sobbed and she clung to Emerald’s hand tightly as they walked to the shop. Mercury stayed behind them, not daring to even look at Rose and not finding a way to make him feel less horrible about it.

It didn’t take long for Rose to be her cheerful happy self again, but now she didn’t let go of Emerald’s hand, pulling her around, but at least not running away again.

They looked at every animal at least three times before she finally got tired. She tried to keep up with their already slow pace while walking to the bus stop, struggling not to stumble. “Can you carry her?”, Emerald asked him. “I can’t take her all the way.”

He sighed. He didn’t want to. “Sure”, he said. “If she wants that.”

Rose looked at him, hesitant, then nodded. She leaned her head against his shoulder when he picked her up and he felt like he would make it worse by just being around her.

“Merc?”, she whispered when they had sat down in the bus.

“Hm?”

“I’m sorry for running away, please stop being mad at me.”

This was pretty much what he had imagined it to feel like when a heart was breaking. “I… I’m not mad at you.” Great, he only had made it worse.

“But I shouldn’t have run away.” She looked at Emerald, but even though he was sure she heard every word they were saying she pretended not to.

“And I shouldn’t have yelled at you, so I’m not mad at you if you’re not mad at me, okay?” 

“Okay”, she whispered into his ear, wrapping her arms around his neck tightly and he allowed himself to hug her. Emerald turned her head away from them, but he could still see her smile.

They dropped Rose off at home. Mercury carried her upstairs and let her down so she could hug her mum. “I’ve seen all animals today. I want to draw them tomorrow. Can I show Emerald my room? She wanted to see it.”

“Yeah, of course.” Yang ruffled her hair and smiled at her. Rose hurried to pull Emerald away and there he was, alone with the last person he wanted to be alone with. “Do you want a cup of coffee?”, Yang asked.

“Sure.” He crossed his arms in front of his chest and followed her into the kitchen. It was obvious a child lived in this household, the fridge was covered with her paintings and half the crockery had cute little animals on it. It wasn’t perfectly clean, but still, the dirty dishes didn’t look like they had been standing next to the sink for more than a day.

“So, did she behave?”, she asked while turning on the coffee machine.

“Only ran away four times. She’s an active child.”

“Oh, I so hoped she’d behave this time.” She ran her fingers through her hair. “She’s so nice, she doesn’t mean to run away, she’s just so curious and wants to see everything, immediately.”

“Yeah, I know. She broke down crying when I yelled at her for the fourth time.”

He had expected for her to snap at him for that, also because he was certain he would have deserved it. But she just chuckled. “It’s horrible, isn’t it?”

“You could have warned me.”

“No one warned me. Or everyone did, I just didn’t believe them.” She handed him his coffee and took a sugar bowl out of the cupboard, put it on the table and sat down. “I owe you more than an apology”, she said after a minute of awkward silence. “I mean… for everything, this situation, I don’t know.”

“Actually you owe me several”, he said and leaned back. “First for just running away without a word, what the fuck, Yang?” To be fair, he had meant to say that to her for six years now.

“I…” She sighed. “I was nineteen, we had this… thing going on, and suddenly I was pregnant.”

“Yeah, you kinda told me. A little late, but yeah.”

“I was stupid.” She fumbled around with the sleeves of her black sweater, avoiding to look at him and for a moment she looked like the girl he had met six years ago, eager to jump into everything life offered her and nervous when their flirts started to actually lead somewhere. “You know, actually I got pregnant very early on, because when I found out I was almost three months into it.”

He tried not to think too much about the first few times they had slept with each other, awkward but so exciting hours in the back room of a restaurant, trying not to get caught. Shyly staring at each other afterwards, then trying to make the other blush by reminding them of it. “And why didn’t you tell me?”

“Well, I thought… before I found out I thought this might actually lead somewhere. So when I found out I knew this would just get complicated. I mean I didn’t know how you’d react, either just dumping me, or telling me to get an abortion to dump me afterwards, or maybe you would have stayed but I was nineteen, I knew this relationship we didn’t even have yet would never survive a child. Not at that state, at that age. So I just thought I’d dump you before you could dump me. I’m not saying I was right or smart, I wasn’t and I should have talked to you, everyone told me to. But I was stubborn, everyone kept telling me I couldn’t do this on my own, college and raising a child, and I just thought guess what I’ll do. I mean they were right. I don’t know what I would have done without Blake. Probably moving in with my dad again, but I was too proud to do that.”

He honestly would have lied if he had told her he wouldn’t have dumped her. He had been young, just turned twenty, so eager to escape every responsibility he had only managed to keep the job at that restaurant for so long because he had been madly in love with her. It was so hard to be mad at her when she admitted she had been wrong, and when he was actually able to understand why she had done it, even though it didn’t make it right. “So why did you tell me now?”

“Because… I mean Blake wanted me to tell you for so long. Ever since I found out and told her. I never wanted to, because I was too proud, because I was scared as to how you might react, because I thought now it was already too late. But then she said that now Rose is in an age where she can still cope with her father suddenly jumping into her live. Easily. She’ll ask questions later, but… I mean she’d ask questions anyway. But later it might just traumatise her and I can’t take that away from her just because I’m too proud to talk to you.” She ran her hands through her hair, mumbling a cuss when a strand of hair got stuck in her prosthetic. “Also I really needed a babysitter, that one wasn’t a lie.”

“I mean she probably would have been- I mean I’m not good with children. I have no patience. I yelled at her for petting a goat.”

“Last week she told me she hated me, in the middle of the supermarket, because I didn’t get her those awfully sweet cornflakes. Or one time we both cried in the car for ten minutes because she was having the worst meltdown and I couldn’t make her stop. Drink your coffee.” He rolled his eyes, but finally reached for the sugar bowl. “I mean she already loves you. Adores you. She asked me if you could be my boyfriend so you could move in with us.”

“Yeah, she asked me that too.”

“Oh no, I begged her not to.” She shook her head and for a moment it almost seemed like she was blushing. They both didn’t really know what to say and the silence felt awkward. He sipped on his coffee, way too strong, but she had never been good at that. She looked at him for a moment and seemed like she was about to say something, but then she just bit her lip and looked away.

“You know, about this whole… father thing”, he eventually said and now he was the one to look away.

“Yes?”

“Well, I guess now I won’t get around it anyway.” He quickly got up as if he could run away from the words he had just said. “I’ll see what Emerald’s up to.”

“Sure.”

When he looked back one last time before he left the room he could see her smiling, and his heart jumped for a moment, but he forbid himself to think about it.

Rose was sitting on her bed with Emerald, both going through a sketchbook with pictures Rose had drawn. Rose’s room still had something unsettlingly comfortable about it, but the same thing that made him upset seemed to have a totally different effect on Emerald. She was practically beaming, listening to Rose’s explanations as if it was the most interesting thing in the whole world.

“Do you have to leave already?”, Rose asked when she noticed him and looked at him with big sad eyes.

“I’m afraid we do”, Emerald said and for a moment Mercury was worried about how much his expression had given away. “But I’m sure we’ll meet again soon.”

“Can we do fun things more often? Not like being in the office, things like today.”

“Sure”, he said.  

Rose hugged Emerald tightly as they said goodbye and Emerald gave her an almost shy kiss on the forehead. When Rose approached him Mercury got on his knees because he didn’t want her to hug his legs again, or the parts that weren’t his legs anymore. She wrapped her arms around him and didn’t let go for a good minute. “Can you show Emmy pictures of animals?”, Rose whispered way to loud for Emerald not to hear it. “It makes her happy.”

“Sure”, he said, chuckling when Emerald quickly left the room, mumbling something about going to the bathroom before they left. “I think she really likes you.”

“I like her too. And I like you.”

He clenched his hand to a fist for a moment. He had never felt comfortable with saying things like that. “Yeah, I like you too”, he said quickly and got up. “See you next time.”

He waited for Emerald by the door. “So you’re leaving already?”, Yang said, coming out of the kitchen.

“Yes. Still got stuff to do.”

“Oh, yeah. Sure.” She crossed her arms in front of her chest, awkwardly looking away.

“So… Emerald was thinking about Rose getting the guest’s room in our flat”, he said eventually. “Her idea, not mine. But I wanted to check if you’re okay with that.”

“Of course. It’s… it’s a good idea. I mean if you plan on having her over for sleepovers, she’d love that.” She cleared her throat. “I mean we’d have to tell her you’re-“

“Yeah, sure.”

“We should do it together.”

“Yes, that would be best.”

“But not right now.”

“Totally not right now. I’ll just… I mean we don’t have to hurry things.”

“Totally not. We can just… think about it for a while and then decide how to tell her. I’ll talk to Blake about it and then we all sit down and discuss how to handle this.”

“Sounds good to me.” Especially the part that included waiting before they approached this.

“Sorry”, Emerald said when she finally came back from the bathroom, eyes reddened. “Are you ready to leave?”

“Yes.” Mercury forced himself not to look at Yang. “So… until next week.”

“Yes, and thank you again.”

Emerald gave him a sceptical look as they left the apartment, but she waited until they had left the building until she spoke. “Okay, that was awkward.”

“What?”

“Between you and Yang. I mean usually it’s just… you basically ignoring her, or openly showing how much you hate her. But that was different.”

“I don’t really hate her.” Well, he had for a while. “I’m just a bit mad.”

“For not telling you about Rose or breaking your heart?”

“I hate you”, he growled.


	8. Chapter 8

“Yellow or red?”

“I don’t know”, he said. “Yellow gets stained easier.”

“You can wash that one. I think she likes yellow, let’s take that one.” Which meant he had to take it. He took the yellow carpet and carried it while Emerald pushed the trolley. “We need curtains”, she said.

“The room has curtains.”

“Ugly curtains. I think she’d like the ones with the lions.”

He sighed. Emerald was escalating on this whole room thing. She had already made him get rid of all the junk they had kept in there and the only reason he didn’t stop her now was that he knew buying all those things for Rose were part of her coping strategy to deal with her own childhood. Somehow deal with it. He didn’t know if projecting it all on Rose counted, nor if it was healthy, but he knew better than confronting her with it. “Does she like lions?”

“She gave all of the lions in the zoo names. But I think she just likes animals in general.”

“Yeah, take the ones with the lions.”

She nodded and then looked at the trolley for a moment, all the things she thought were essential for Rose’s survival. A bit too long for him not to get worried.

“Anything missing?”, he asked.

“Yes.” She looked up. “Wait a minute.”

He sighed, standing between everything a child could need or a parent would pay for, awfully colourful and happy. Emerald and him both hadn’t had that as children, they both had so often dreamed of going into one of these stores and buy everything they wanted, something they had talked about during sleepless nights. But everything it did to him now was bringing back memories he preferred being buried deep down in the back of his mind.

“Got it”, Emerald suddenly said and he almost flinched. She was holding a plushie in her hands, a brown teddy, not what he would have chosen, nor what he had expected her to choose. “I mean she needs one in case she forgets her own”, she said, avoiding his gaze.

“Sure.”

She took the trolley and headed towards the cash point, then stopped, looked at him. “I had one that looked like that when I was a child. A bit more ragged, but I don’t really remember. Don’t ask.”

He sighed and they both knew she’d start to cry if he hugged her now. “Let’s hope Grimm won’t eat it”, he said instead. “I’m sure she’ll want to introduce them to each other.”

“I can get a second one in case…“

“Yeah, probably a good idea.”


	9. Chapter 9

__“If I another customer only stares at my cleavage I swear I’ll pour a whole bottle of water over his head.”

“So why don’t you just button up your blouse?”, he asked, leaning against the counter and watching the last guests leave. It was early afternoon, around this time the restaurant was usually empty, and stayed empty for a while.

“Because that would be like giving in. They shouldn’t be staring. It’s their fault, not mine.”

“Am I allowed to stare?” He smirked and she blushed. He loved the effect he could have on her sometimes, spend hours teasing her just for that reaction.

“You’re allowed to stare”, she said.

“Oh, am I?”

“Yeah. Do you want me to write it down to you? Mercury Black is officially allowed to stare at my boobs.”

“So I’m allowed to?”

“Yes, I just said that.” She stared at him for a moment, mimicking his smirk.

“I mean you’d have to undress for that.”

For a moment he thought he had gone too far, but her smirk only grew wider. “How about you earn it?”

“No, you already gave me permission. That’s not how this works.”

“My boobs, my rules.”

“Okay, what do I need to do?” He moved a bit closer, just to see if she’d move away, but she didn’t.

“I didn’t think that far, give me a moment.”

He laughed which earned them a disapproving glare from Coco, the other waitress who worked there with them, sitting on one of the tables and reading a magazine. Yang seemed to get along with her just fine, but he couldn’t stand her. “Think fast.”

“Don’t put me under pressure like that.”

“Why not?”

She nudged him and he caught her hand, her real one, pulled her a bit closer. “Because…”, she said.

“Yeah?”

“Because you’re the worst, that’s not how you earn my boobs.”

 

* * *

 

“He can get his damn walnuts himself”, Mercury said.

“Yeah, how about you discuss that with him?” Coco rolled her eyes. “Just go get them.”

He wasn’t surprised when he found Yang in the storage room. He leaned against the doorframe for a moment, watching her go through the shelves and making notes on her clipboard. The blouse did interesting things to her curves and he loved the expression on her face when she was completely focussing on something. “Listing, huh?”

She flinched, turning around. “Don’t sneak up to me like that.”

“It’s not my fault you never see anything coming.” He stepped inside the small room, barely enough space for the two of them. “Just gotta get Jack his stupid walnuts.”

“He can get them himself, we’re not his assistants.”

“He says we just sit around most of the time anyway.”

“Well, he’s not wrong.”

He didn’t move, just kept looking at her. She had to wear a bun for work, but some curls always escaped. He had watched her trying to do it with her prosthetic once, jealous when she had asked Coco to help her. He leaned a bit closer, reaching for something above her and pinning her to the shelf. “Yeah, probably not”, he said. She was so close he could feel her warm breath on his neck, her body brushing his, and it was driving him crazy. “So, how is the listing going?”

“I’ve been studying for college most of the time. It’s not like anyone’s bothering me back here.” She sounded more out of breath than she should have been considering her current task.

“Savage.”

“You’re aware the walnuts are in the shelf behind you?”

He smirked and looked at her. “Yeah, I am.”

For a moment they just looked at each other, both smirking and insecure, his heart beating way too fast. Then she grabbed him by the collar, pulled him closer and kissed him. Her lips felt soft and warm, the kiss more intoxicating than he had imagined during some lonely hours late at night. He laid his hands on her waist to pull her closer, let his fingers wander over her frustratingly covered body. There were so many places where he wanted to touch and kiss her.

“How many guests?”, she asked, voice trembling.

“What?”

“How many guests do we have to serve right now?”

“Just two couples, why on earth-“

She closed his lips with hers for an agonizingly short kiss. “Coco can handle them, go get Jack the damn walnuts and then come back.”

“Come back?”, he asked like an idiot, still staring at her lips.

“Yes. Now hurry before I change my mind.”

“I’ll run.” He kissed her neck for a moment, just because he had imagined doing that for so long now, and the sound she made could have been a moan.

“Don’t forget the walnuts.”

 

* * *

 

He leaned his head against her bare shoulder, still panting, feeling like he could drown in her scent and warmth. Her arm was still wrapped around his neck, her prosthetic just hanging to her side because she had been awkward about it, keeping it away from him even though he really wouldn’t have bothered.

“I hope Coco doesn’t miss you too much”, Yang said, breaking the awkward silence.

“Don’t bring her into this, she’s… no.” He was still holding her close, also because he felt like this would only get way more awkward if the brought some distance between them.

Yang chuckled nervously. “And I thought this could become a thing between the three of us.”

“It’s much cosier if it’s just you and me.” He tried not to smile at her mention of this maybe not being the last time.

“Only if we don’t get thrown out. You should get back.”

He knew she was right, but for some more blissful moments they didn’t let go of each other. When they finally did they both didn’t dare to look at each other, trying to fix their clothes so no one would notice.

“Help me with my hair”, she said. “You totally ruined it.”

He smirked. “I freed it. It asked for it.” He stroked her neck when she turned her back on him, ran his fingers through her hair before he actually attempted to do a bun for her.

“I can’t wear it down at work, you know that.”

“Yes.” He smirked and kissed her neck when she was done, wrapping his arms around her again.

“No, stop it.” She didn’t do anything to stop him, leaned into the touch.

“Why?”

“Because you’ll just get me all worked up again.” She almost sounded embarrassed.

He laughed, but the confession drove him wild. He had to force himself to pull away, pressing one last kiss on her cheek. “Have fun with the listings.”

 

* * *

 

“You two are impossible”, Coco said next to her.

“What do you mean?”

“You’ve been staring at him for the last five minutes. Stop it. It’s hard enough to work with the two of you when you disappear into the back room all the time.”

Yang could felt her cheeks burn. “I have no idea what-“

“Oh, come on. Did you really think I wouldn’t notice? You’re both basically undressing each other with your eyes, then you disappear for half an hour and come back with hickeys, messy hair and that satisfied grin on your faces. I know what’s going on.”

Yang buried her hand in her face and groaned, the cool metal of her prosthetic pressing against her cheek. “I thought we were being subtle.”

“As subtle as your hair is about being blonde.”

“To be fair, the job is kinda boring.”

“Oh, ask me. But if I didn’t have a girlfriend I probably would have hit on you, too.”

 

* * *

 

“So… chocolate or cookies?”

“Chocolate cookies.” He softly stroked a strain of her out of her face. “Summer or winter?”

“Summer.” Her head was resting on his chest and she refused to call it cuddling until he wrapped his arm around her waist. She wasn’t complaining. “Beer or wine?”

“None. Roses or violets?”

“You’re running out of questions, aren’t you?”

“Ran out of questions five minutes ago.”

“Sunflowers.” She smirked and closed her eyes. The sun was shining and they spend their break lying on the lawn behind the restaurant, trying to keep themselves from studying for college. She bit her lip, not sure how to approach this. “So I was wondering…”

“Yeah?”

“Wanna go grab some lunch tomorrow?” Her heart was pounding way too fast. This shouldn’t have made her that nervous.

“On our day off?”

“Yes.”

“Like as a date?”

She had to resist the urge to sit up, bring some distance between the two of them. “I don’t… I mean if you want to.”

“Yeah, sure.”

She bit her lip so she would stop grinning like an idiot.

 

* * *

 

“Good morning, sunshine”, he said and Coco threw her towel after him. “Is Yang here already?”

“No, she quit.”

She said it so nonchalant he didn’t immediately get what she had just told him. “What?”

“She quit. Called this morning. Guess it’s just you and me now.”

“Why would she quit?”

“I don’t know, maybe she found something that pays better?”

Probably. She would probably call him soon enough and tell him herself. It still felt weird.

She didn’t call and when he called her she didn’t answer. Didn’t reply to his texts. He thought about finding out where she lived and asking her why the hell she suddenly wasn’t talking to him anymore, thought about approaching her after one of her college classes. But then he decided he didn’t want to run after a girl who clearly didn’t want to have anything to do with him anymore. It wasn’t like there weren’t plenty of girls just like her.

He had plenty of girls but none came even close to being like her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Flashbacks. Because I can.


	10. Chapter 10

“I’m only here because of Rose”, he said. “I don’t need to bring anything, she didn’t even tell me to.”

“If you say so.” Emerald rolled her eyes. “Anyway, sure you got the right address?”

“Very sure.” He had checked it twice. The area screamed money at them, big houses that didn’t try to hide but shamelessly showed how wealthy the people living here must be. “It’s a friend’s house, that’s what she told me.”

“What kind of friends does she have?”

He wasn’t sure if it had been a good idea to bring her. He didn’t want to make her uncomfortable by forcing her into such an environment, but after all he had it worse. He was Rose’s father and probably everyone knew that already, so everyone would watch him, curious and judgmental.

“I think this one is it”, he said, pointing to a villa with Greek columns and a tidily cut lawn. “I mean the name’s right.”

“This is the kind of house I would never dare to come close because people might immediately think I want to rob them.” Emerald shook her head. “You owe me.”

“Yang told me to bring family if I want to, who else was I supposed to take with me?”

It was so honest it surprised both of them, but she didn’t say another word, only slightly stroked his hand before she rang the doorbell.

It was Yang who opened. She was wearing a yellow summer dress Mercury didn’t dare to look at for too long, smiling a bit nervously. “I’m so glad you made it”, she said. “We’re back in the garden.”

“So you’ve slept your way up to the top?”, he asked and Emerald nudged him to show her disapproval.

“I just have friends, contrary to you.”

Emerald raised her eyebrows, but he just shrugged. It was strange how even after six years he and Yang were picking up old habits that easily.

Rose saw them before they saw her. She ran towards them and Mercury was absolutely sure she’d hug Emerald, but before he could stop her she had wrapped her arms around his legs. “Mum said you would come.” She looked up to him and beamed.

“Of course we came.” Not like he would get around those things anymore.

“Come on, Rose, he can’t walk like that”, Yang said. “Don’t you want to show him where everyone else is?”

“Yes.” She let go of his legs to grab his hand and pull him with her. “We’ll have cake later. I helped to make that cake.”

“I’m sure it’s great”, Emerald said and Rose reached for her hand so she was walking between both of them, pulling them around the house so fast she was almost stumbling.

“Blake said I can’t try it before after we’ve had the barbecue. Blake’s here too, but not Neptune.” Mercury wasn’t too sad about that.

There weren’t many people, but everyone pretended not to be staring when he and Emerald joined them. A table to sit on, but everyone was standing anyway, a table with snacks and drinks. It seemed not formal enough for the tidy but boring garden and the fancy house, a bit too much Yang in it. Much less horrifying than he had thought just a minute ago.

“Drinks are over there”, Yang said. “Just help yourselves and ask if you need anything.”

He seriously thought about which excuse would make it acceptable to leave immediately. He had never found enjoyment in parties or gatherings of more than two people in general. He saw all these people, knew that everyone would try to talk to him, and he so didn’t want to talk to any of them. “Sure”, he said.

“Can I have more lemonade?”, Rose asked.

“Yeah, sure”, Yang said, and there she went, running towards the table with the drinks. “I’ll take care of the barbecue, just feel like home!”

As if they’d ever life in a home like this. He sighed and looked at Emerald.

“She’s adorable, but what family did you impregnate your way into?”

He shrugged. “You know, we didn’t really have many deep conversations back then. More… deep in another way.”

“Oh, stop it. Not another word.”

He chuckled and buried his hands in the pocked of his jeans. “You asked.”

“You must be Mercury”, said someone next to him and he closed his eyes for a moment to stop himself from giving the woman an expression that gave away how annoyed he was.

“Yeah”, he said and finally looked at her. Her hair was so bright that blonde didn’t come even close anymore, rather white. She was small, wearing a plain blue dress that looked so expensive it seemed to fit in with their surroundings perfectly.

“I’m Weiss. I’m so glad to finally meet you.”

He wished he had asked Yang about what she had told everyone beforehand, but then he probably would have been way too proud for that.

“I’m Emerald. It’s so nice to be here.” She saved him once again, said something while he thought of something that wouldn’t make her throw him out right away. Emerald was much better at small talk than him, which was why she was usually the one to answer the phone, but she was also much better at complaining about it afterwards.

“Oh, are you-“

“His roommate. Friend. Co-worker.” Emerald smiled at her the way she smiled at the customers that got on her nerves the most.

“Yang told me to bring someone”, he said and shrugged. It wasn’t like he knew how to phrase this without sounding like she was just someone he had begged to join him in desperate need of company without giving too much away. Their relationship was something they didn’t really put a name on themselves.

“So, what do you work?”, Weiss asked. Mercury wasn’t sure if Yang really hadn’t told her, if she just wanted to pretend she didn’t know way too much about them, or if she just wanted to hear him phrase it.

“Software engineering.”

“Oh, how interesting.”

“So, is this your house?”, Emerald asked.

“Well, it belongs to my sister, but we live here together, yes. Yang wanted to have the barbecue on her balcony, but I thought it would be nicer if we had a garden.”

“Oh yes, it’s lovely.” Emerald’s voice was so cheerful Mercury had to bite his tongue to keep himself from laughing. It was convincing to everyone who didn’t know her that well.

“Can I offer you anything to drink?”

“Oh, thank you so much, but not yet.”

“Just let me know if you need anything”, Weiss said, smiling brightly before leaving them.

“God, I _hate_ her”, Emerald whispered.

Mercury pressed his hand on his mouth to keep himself from laughing. “She’s gay.”

“So what?”

“Just thought you might want to know.”

“Just because… how do you even know that?”

“Rose told me.”

She glared at him as if she was about to cut his throat. “Just because I’m gay doesn’t mean I’ll jump at the first other gay woman I meet. Stop looking at me like that, she’s not even that pretty. Not my type. Too rich. Too happy. I guess she never had anyone making anything hard for her in her entire life. Merc, I swear…”

“Alright, alright.”

“Stop it.”

“I’m not even _doing_ anything.”

“I’ll go and get myself some overly expensive lemonade, wipe that smug grin off your face until I’m back.”

He rolled his eyes and desperately hoped no one would feel the urge to talk to him until she got back.

Of course he wasn’t that lucky. Blake approached him as soon as Emerald had left him. “Come, I need some help in the kitchen”, she said, and couldn’t come up with an excuse fast enough, so he followed her inside.

The inside didn’t even surprise him. Tidy because of course those people didn’t keep it that way themselves, expensive and exquisite. “Can you cut the tomatoes for the salad?”, she asked.

“Sure.” As if he could have said no.

“I just wanted to get you away from there”, she admitted, leaning against the kitchen counter as he grabbed the knife. “I told Yang it wasn’t the best idea because everyone would just jump at you, but she’s the one to just jump into those situations without hesitation.”

“I expected that”, he said and shrugged. He wasn’t really sure what to say, because he couldn’t deny being grateful for showing him a way out of this.

“You’ve met Weiss”, Blake said. “She can be a bit… I mean she didn’t like you at all. She makes her mind up pretty fast, but that doesn’t mean it can’t change. She’s a good friend, she just doesn’t show it often. That one over there, short dark hair, that’s Ruby. Yang’s sister, Rose’s aunt.” She pointed out of the window and Mercury followed her gaze, instantly spotting the small brunette who didn’t look anything like Yang and carried Rose on her back through the garden. “She’ll love you, because she loves everyone at first. Be nice to her. She’s lovely.”

“Who’s the guy Em is talking to?”

“Jaune. He’s nice, sometimes a bit awkward, but a good friend.”

“So everyone knows what’s up?”

“Yeah, pretty much. It was hard to keep it a secret after… well, I guess you’d have to talk to Yang about that.”

“About what?” He looked at her, narrowed his eyebrows.

“Custody.”

“Why?”

“Ask her. I mean she did want to talk to you about that, but she was scared you hate her so much you’d just run off as soon as she… tells you.”

“Is she scared I’d sue her for custody? Because I sure as hell won’t.”

“You know, just ask her. She’ll kill me for mentioning it already, but she’s stupid not to talk to you about it.”

“But then I’d have to talk to her, I’m actually trying to get around that as often as I can.” He wasn’t even sure why he told her.

“She’s been pretty miserable”, Blake said. He looked up. “When she found out she’s pregnant. But she’s also incredibly stubborn. She decided she’d pull through with this alone and no matter how much I kept begging her to call you… I mean everyone kept telling her what to do and what not and that scared her away from it. Also I guess she thought just not talking to you ever again would hurt less than you leaving her eventually.”

“Now it’s too late to complain anyway”, he said and shrugged. He didn’t know how to feel about this. Yeah, he had probably missed out on some of Rose’s most important years, but he also didn’t feel like he had any right to complain about this, like he had any right to get those years and happy memories in the first place. “I mean we’re still figuring stuff out I guess.”

“Yang and I have been talking about how to tell her.”

He started to chop the tomatoes again. “Yeah?”

“It’s probably best to tell her soon. Just so she can get used to it. The longer we wait the more questions she’ll ask.”

“I mean…” He didn’t even know what to say. But telling Rose would just seal him inevitably to his fate and it still felt wrong. “If you say so.”

“Are you alright with that? Or do you just agree because you think you don’t have a choice?”

“I don’t have a choice, but no matter when we do that, it won’t get any easier. Em’s not gonna let me postpone it for much longer, so… let’s get it over with.”

“She’s been asking about her dad.”

He looked up. “She did?”

“Sure. I mean… mainly after we told her that I’m not really her second mum.”

He laughed, looked at her. “She thought that?”

“She knows families with two mums. I lived with her and Yang for all her live. God, she looked so disappointed and heartbroken, but I told her I can be everything she wants for her, I’m just not _dating_ her mum, but that was hard to explain, so we had to make up some sort of ceremony where I officially declared myself her second mum. But that’s when she started asking, because she knew Neptune wasn’t her dad and most people have two parents, so… we told her she had a dad, he just can’t be there for her, but that was pretty stupid because of course that didn’t stop her from asking even more questions. If you want one tip for dealing with children, be very careful about what you tell them and how you phrase it and think about what you tell her before you do because just telling her she didn’t have a dad… I mean we might have been able to get away with that for a while.”

The thought of Blake officially declaring herself Rose’s mum just so she wouldn’t be sad anymore made her much more likeable in his eyes. “Good thing I’m here now I guess”, he said.

“Yes. We just… have to come up with a good idea how to tell her.”

“I’ll leave that to you. You know her way better.”

“And you don’t want to come up with something yourself?”

“Probably not wrong.”

She laughed. “I’m judging you.”

 

* * *

 

Getting through the evening was easier with having at least one person apart from Emerald he didn’t mind talking to. Sitting between Blake and Emerald, trying to ignore Yang’s presence and not to make any snarky comments. Rose ran around, trying to talk to anyone at the same time until she got tired and cuddled up on Jaune’s lap. Mercury told himself it didn’t bother him. By the time they were cleaning everything up she was asleep already.

“Yang, I think I forgot her blanket in the car”, Blake said. “Why don’t you and Mercury go get it?”

He rolled his eyes. She wasn’t even subtle about wanting them to talk to each other. “Sure”, he said when Yang seemed hesitant about it. 

It was a warm evening, slowly getting dark. For a minute or two they didn’t say a word, just walked side by side and he tried to ignore her presence. Six years ago they had been horribly attracted to each other, teasing and joking whenever they could between secret kisses in the restaurant’s hallway. But they had never gotten to a state of growing completely comfortable around each other, the part that included trust and being comfortable with talking about sensible topics. Neither the years, the thing decisions she had made, nor him never having built that sort of relationship with anyone but Emerald made the situation easier now.

“We couldn’t find a parking place”, she said eventually. “Sorry, it’s not that far anymore.”

He shrugged. “We took the bus.”

“Better for the environment. But we had so much stuff to carry, so Blake borrowed her boyfriend’s car.”

He took a deep breath and finally allowed himself to look at her. “So what about custody?”

She stopped, stared at him. “What?”

“Custody. Blake mentioned it. Also you said you’d lose custody if I didn’t look after Rose, which sounds a bit extreme.”

“Oh, well.” She ran her fingers through her hair. “There’s the car.”

“Don’t just avoid the question like that, Yang.”

“I’m not, I just want to sit down for this.”

The topic made him nervous and he was beyond the point of pretending he shouldn’t care. He did care. Way too much. He hadn’t agreed on this whole thing just to lose her again after a couple of weeks.

She sat down on the driver’s seat, slipping out of her shoes and resting her feet on the wheel which made him quickly look away. He sat down on the seat next to her, crossing his arms in front of his chest. They left the doors open because it was still uncomfortably hot in the car, and for once Mercury appreciated this neighbourhood because it wasn’t only rich but also very quiet. Here they were, sitting in a car. Mercury tried not to think too much about the one time Yang had taken him on a date in her car, how they had had sex on the backseat afterwards, trying to work with the limited space, falling asleep afterwards and being woken up by a worried elderly couple in the morning, awkwardly pulling their pants back up.

“So, Rose”, Yang said. “You know, I named her after my mum.”

She had never talked about her family much, he had only known that she had a sister. “Does that have anything to do with that?”

“Yes. It’s… technically she was my stepmother. My biological mother left just after I was born, I never met her until I was eighteen. I just… well, our relationship has always been a bit complicated ever since. So then I had Rose and everything was fine until I had a big fight with my dad and asked her for help. Financially, because paying for college and a child is impossible even when you’re a full time waitress, and I couldn’t work at all while trying to somehow handle both of it. She said yes, but then she started to try to… influence things. I mean she never even raised me, why would she suddenly think she can raise my daughter better than me? Also… she’s a bit rough and upset Rose more than once. Things escalated and I told her she couldn’t see her anymore, now I have her lawyers trying to prove I can’t take care of Rose and she would be better off living with her.”

“Well, fuck.” He looked at her.

“I mean… Weiss helps a lot and her lawyers say it won’t be a problem if I can prove that I earn enough money and can take care of her. But I have social workers randomly knocking at my door and checking if the flat is still child appropriate and my daughter still not neglected and starving. I mean it’s just… I don’t know.”

He took a deep breath. “I mean… probably I’m not the best choice to impress them.”

“You don’t have to do anything, just don’t do anything a parent shouldn’t do. Like… don’t murder anyone or something like that.”

He couldn’t look at her. Now was probably not the best moment to tell her, but to be honest there would never be a right moment. But Emerald wasn’t here to make him do the right thing. “I’ll do my best.”

“You know, I thought about… now that we’re really doing this together, with you as her father, then it might be good if she got used to sleep at your place. Just… I mean maybe you two want to have sleepovers, maybe I’ll need you to take care of her overnight.”

“Em’s doing everything involving her room.” He tried not to overthink the situation. They probably wouldn’t do too much research on him, would they?

“I mean… do you think we both could stay at your place for a night?”

“What?” He looked at her, baffled.

“Just in case she… reacts weirdly. She had sleepovers before, but they were all with people she has known since birth. I’m just worried she gets scared at night.”

“You’re a real mother hen, did anyone ever tell you that?”

“You know, the worst part is that some tell me I’m not doing enough, some say I do too much. I personally just think I’m a horrible mother most of the time.”

“No, you’re not.”

She looked at him and smiled shyly. “Thank you.”

He shrugged and stared out of the front window again. For a moment he was overly aware of the awkward silence between them and her presence. It was damn hard to ignore her, to ignore the scent of her perfume or her bare thighs, damn hard not to remember why he had hit on her like an idiot all those years ago.

“So how did you like them?”

“Who?”, he asked, still somehow lost in his thoughts.

“Everyone. Blake, Jaune, Ruby, Weiss… I mean you’re kinda part of this family now, if you want it or not.”

“I mean I don’t have to marry them, do I?”

“Oh, so bad?”

“Come on, that’s my nice response.”

“The response when you want to be nice, you’d be much harsher if you liked them.”

“Oh, you remembered that?” He raised his eyebrows.

“I spend weeks pining for you while I was too shy to approach you, of course I remember.” She smirked and the dim light made it impossible to be sure whether she was actually blushing or if he just saw things he wanted to see. “Come on, let’s get Rose her blanket”, she said and got out of the car quickly.

“You were waiting?” He got out of the car, closed the door and it wasn’t like he didn’t get she wanted him to drop the topic, he just didn’t care. He knew he would regret this later. “I’ve been hitting on you from day one.”

“I totally didn’t get it.” She took the blanket from the back seat and locked the car. “I thought… well, I thought you were a rude asshole. But also hot.”

“That’s basically who I was and still am.”

“Oh, not all of the time. You’re pretty nice when Rose’s around.”

“I’m not a monster. But back then, I wasn’t nice to anyone.”

“You were nice to me.”

“Because I really wanted to fuck you.”

“And I really, really wanted to date you.”

He didn’t know what to reply. The conversation was awkward, filled with regrets of what could have been, and he should have known better. They both had once hoped for something else than having a daughter and barely being able to hold a conversation, the thought of the two of them dating seemed absolutely ridiculous. But then again, there wasn’t much they could have done. After all she had been right. They definitely would have broken up, even if she had gotten him to do this whole family thing for a while.

He still didn’t want a family apart from Emerald, but then again it was Emerald who had been right with one thing: It wasn’t just about him anymore. So he had to stay and hope Rose wouldn’t learn all the reasons to be disappointed in him too soon.

“So, about that… overnight thing”, he said when they reached the gate.

“Yeah?”

“I mean it’s probably good to do that after we’ve told her. If that doesn’t upset her too much.”

“So you want to tell her soon?”

“Yes, quite soon.” He couldn’t stop it from happening now anyway and the thought made him so anxious he just wanted to get it behind him. “Any idea how you want to do it?”

“Well… maybe just sit her down and explain it to her? Or… just make up a story that’s child appropriate.”

“Have something in mind?”

“I don’t know, maybe that you’ve been away for work? Something… important?”

“Yeah, I think that might work.”

“So… next week?”

“Friday afternoon?”

“Works for us.”

They looked at each other, not sure what to say or do. He felt like being nineteen again and her making him feel like that was a big red flag. One of many. “Let’s get back inside”, he said.

For a moment she seemed like she wanted to say something, but then she just nodded and walked through the gate.

Jaune was still sitting in the garden, Rose sleeping in his arms and for a moment he asked himself if she wouldn’t always love Jaune more than she could ever love him. Not that he was complaining, he had done nothing to deserve it after all and Jaune had been there for her all her life long. Still didn’t mean he had to like it.

“Emerald’s probably inside”, Yang said.

“Yeah, I’ll go find her.”

He could hear her before he even made it to the kitchen. She was as good as yelling and he didn’t need to understand her to know she was furious.

“…never been in a situation where you had to make choices so don’t tell me what to do if you haven’t been there. Go sleep under a bridge for a couple of days and then tell me I can just quit my job if I don’t like it.”

“You don’t need to be so overly dramatic”, Weiss said sharply. “But if you just stick to your situation and pretend you can’t change it anyway there’s nothing I can do for you.”

“I didn’t ask you to do anything! Just keep your spoiled nose out of me and my issues, it’s none of your fucking business!”

“Watch your mouth, this is-“

“I’ll so fucking show you how I’m not going to fucking watch my fucking mouth, just-“ She stopped when Mercury stepped inside, glaring at him as if he was the one she was mad at. “We’re leaving”, she said and stormed past him, pulling him with her and leaving a Weiss behind who looked just as mad as her.

“So… bonding?”

She groaned and let go of his hand. “Shut up. Not a word. Just don’t make me ever see her again.”

“Hey”, Blake said, just walking inside from the garden. “Do you want us to give you a ride home?”

He briefly stroked Emerald’s arm so she would calm down. “Sure.”

“Alright, we’ll leave in a couple of minutes, just saying goodbye.”

“We’ll wait outside.” He pulled Emerald with him, waited until they were far enough away from everyone else. “Making friends?”

“Don’t.”

“You alright?”

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment. “Yes.”

“Hey, Mercury!”, Blake said behind him. “Can you carry Rose? Yang’s still inside.”

“Sure.” He sighed and squeezed Emerald’s hand for a moment. “Yeah, she’s awful”, he said even though he knew it would probably fail to make her feel better. “I’ll go get her”, he said and went over to Jaune. Rose was still peacefully sleeping, now covered with a blanket that Jaune pulled away.

“I don’t think she’ll wake up, she’s been running around all day”, Jaune said when Mercury carefully picked her up.

“I wouldn’t be surprised, that child has more energy than good for her.” She still kept sleeping, her head now resting on his shoulder. It was more soothing than he wanted to admit. Yeah, maybe he did like that child.


	11. Chapter 11

They had decided to tell Rose at home. Yang had called Mercury twice to talk this through, even though she had actually mostly spoken to Emerald because he still avoided talking to her, trying to avoid the awkwardness surrounding all their interactions.

He had asked Yang not to tell Emerald that Weiss would be there though. Yang wanted her there because apparently she was scared Rose would be mad at her and Blake, and wanted someone who could comfort her then to be there. Emerald had spent hours telling him what an insufferable brat Weiss was, and he couldn’t do this without her. He had seriously been afraid Emerald might not come if she had known.

So now they were sitting in the living room, waiting for Yang and Rose to come home. And for Weiss to arrive, but Emerald didn’t know that. The living room was cosy, dominated by a big soft couch and the book shelves. It felt like a home and he hated being here.

“Rose keeps talking about that dog”, Blake said when she came back to the living room, carrying a tray with three cups of tea. “She says he tells her stories when she’s bored. She always had a vivid imagination.”

“She usually just talks to herself while she’s playing with that beast”, Mercury said.

“Yeah, she does that with her plushies too.” Blake put the tray on the coffee table and sat down next to him. “She’s been begging me and Yang to get her a pet for so long now, but it just wouldn’t work in this flat, we’re away for most of the day.”

He heard the apartment door open and Rose’s excited voice, rambling on about something. God, he didn’t want this. He still denied being nervous, but the truth was that he felt like the whole world was staring at him, judging him. Again.

“Merc!”, Rose shouted as soon as she saw him, running towards him and climbing on his lap to hug him.

“What is _she_ doing here?”, Emerald said sharply and he could feel Rose flinch in his arms.

“I could ask you the same question.” Weiss sat down on the couch as far away from Emerald as she could.

The very same moment Rose burst out into tears.

“See, now you’ve made her cry”, Emerald said.

“No, you’ve made her cry, why would you yell at me like that?”

“Who’s yelling now?”

“Oh, shut up”, Mercury growled, but it didn’t stop Rose from sobbing into his shirt. He pulled her closer without even thinking about it.

“You shut up”, Weiss said. “Can she leave?”

“I will throw you two out if you don’t shut up right now!” Yang’s voice sounded as if it could have scared Cinder, but Rose relaxed a little. “This isn’t about you!”

“I didn’t start this”, Weiss said.

“Who was the one telling me I should just quit my job if I don’t like it?”

“Do you snap at everyone who just wants to be nice?”

“If that’s you being nice I don’t-“

“Weiss! Emerald!”, Yang yelled. “Get the fuck out and talk this out in the kitchen!”

“That’s a bad word, mummy”, Rose said between some lazy sobs.

“I’m not leaving”, Emerald said.

“Me neither.” Weiss crossed her arms in front of her chest. “I want to be here when you tell her he’s her dad.”

Mercury froze. Rose struggled in his arms to turn around to look at her. “What?”

“Out”, Yang said, calm and coldly. Now even Rose flinched.

Emerald hurried to get up, probably out of pure fear of Yang’s wrath. Weiss had turned bright red, quickly following her out of the room and closing the door behind her. They could still hear their voiced, muffled and angry. For a moment Mercury didn’t hate anyone more than Weiss. How was he supposed to make it through this without Emerald?

“What we wanted to tell you is…”, Blake said, struggling to find the right words. “Mercury is… remember when we told you your dad is working somewhere and it’s really important and everything?”

“So he’s my dad now?”, Rose asked.

“Yeah, he is”, Yang said, running her hand through her hair while visibly trying to stay calm.

“Does that mean I have three parents now? Or do I have to pick between Blake and Mercury?”

“No, no”, Blake hurried to say. “Everything stays the same, he’s just… extra.”

“Okay”, Rose said, staying on his lap and he begged she wouldn’t notice how nervous he actually was. “Why does Emmy yell at Weiss?”

“Don’t you have… any questions?”, Yang said.

“I just asked one.”

“I think she meant about Mercury”, Blake said carefully. “Because he’s your father.”

“No, you told me he had a job. And he told me about the pirates. I don’t want to hear that story now, I want Weiss and Emmy to stop yelling at each other.”

“I need a drink”, Yang said, walking towards one of the cupboards. They kept their liquor on top of the shelf, right for anyone to see, but too high for Rose to reach.

“I think they stopped yelling”, he said. “Maybe I should go and see if they’ve killed each other.”

Yang shot him a disapproving glare, but Rose climbed down to the floor. “I want to see too. But you have to look first in case it’s scary.”

He definitely needed to take more care about how he phrased things. “Alright, we can go together.”

She took his hand and he asked himself how much she had really got what Yang had just tried to tell her. He couldn’t hear Em and Weiss even as he opened the door to the living room and it got him slightly worried.

“Look”, she whispered and he nodded, peeked through the kitchen door.

He wasn’t disappointed.

Emerald had pinned Weiss against the wall, kissing her as if her life depended on it while Weiss had buried her hands in Emerald’s hair, pulling her closer and kissing her back just as passionately.

He smirked and turned back to Rose. “Come on, let’s see what Em and Weiss are doing”, he said loud enough for them to hear. The noises were satisfying enough, a muffled cuss and footsteps, the ruffling of clothes. He gave them a moment before he walked around the corner, Rose still holding his hand. Emerald and Weiss stared at him as if he had just walked in on them, which he technically had. Emerald was now standing at the other end of the room, not moving an inch while Weiss was still fumbling around with her clothes.

“Did you stop yelling at each other?”, he asked, Rose hiding behind him.

“Yes, we did.” Weiss was still blushing, looking to the ground. “We’re fine now.”

“So you don’t hate each other?” Rose now dared to move forward, but still holding his hand.

“No, we don’t”, Emerald said. “We’re best friends now.”

Weiss made a noise that could have been either a laugh or a groan. “Yeah, best friends.”

“So, how…” Emerald looked at Mercury, carefully. He shrugged. She raised her eyebrows and he rolled his eyes. She finally looked away. “Let’s see if Yang’s still mad at us”, she said, pulling Weiss with her out of the room.

“So are you mummy’s boyfriend now”, Rose asked suddenly.

“What? No. Why?”

“Because she said you’re my daddy.”

He sighed. This whole thing was making him way more uncomfortable than he liked to admit. “Yeah, but… that doesn’t have to mean I’m her boyfriend now.” He tried to think of a way to break the concept down to her, in an age appropriate way. He sat down, leaned against the fridge. “It only means that I was her boyfriend a long while ago.”

She sat down next to him, mimicking his pose. “But will you move in with us?”

“No.” He crossed his arms in front of his chest, just to see if she would too. She did.

“But then what good is that if nothing changes?”

“Well, you… get to see me regularly.”

“What does regularly mean?”

“I don’t know, twice a week, just like now?” Yeah, he got what she meant now. “I mean… look at it that way. Your mum can still get another boyfriend, and you still got me, so that makes two more people who will have to buy you presents for your birthday.”

“So I get more presents?”

“Yes.” Emerald would be thrilled to buy her birthday presents, he was already sure of that.

For a moment they were both silent and he could feel her staring at him. “I know you didn’t actually hunt for treasures”, she whispered.

He took a deep breath. “How?”

“People only do that in books and movies. Mum always tells me she lost her arm because there was a whole in the submarine she was in and she had to plug it with her arm but had to leave it behind. I know it’s not true, but Blake told me that I’m too young for some stories. But… was it really work?”

She didn’t look at him. He sighed. No one had told him that having children could make someone else’s vulnerability crush back so hard on him. “Not really”, he finally said, trying to figure out how to put this into child appropriate words. “It was… complicated. It’s not like I didn’t… you know, sometimes people are stupid.”

“So were you stupid or mum?”

“Both of us. But it didn’t have anything to do with you.”

“And now you’re not stupid anymore?”

“We’re trying really hard.”

“I have two mums”, she said. “I don’t know what dads do.”

He looked at her. “Me neither.”

“Zoe’s dad just sits at home and drinks all the time, I’m not allowed to visit her anymore, but mum said she can visit me.”

“I don’t drink.”

“Okay, that’s good. So can we go to the zoo again? If I promise not to run away?”

“Sure.”

“Today?”

“The zoo’s already closed now. But your mum said you can sometimes come over for a sleepover if you’d like.”

“Oh yes, I love sleepovers. Can we eat pizza and watch a movie? That’s what I always do with Ruby.”

“Yeah, sure.” He just had to get some child appropriate movies.

“There you are.” Yang stopped in the doorway, looking down at him and Rose. She seemed worried.

“Merc said we can have a sleepover at his place.”

“Yes, we can totally do that.” Yang didn’t look at him when she kneeled down next to them. “So… how do you feel?”

Rose looked a bit baffled for a moment. It didn’t seem like Yang was asking questions like that all the time. “I’m not tired yet”, she said.

“She’s worried because you cried over Weiss and Em fighting”, Mercury whispered to her, loud enough for Yang to hear it. Just to make this a bit less awkward.

“But they said they’re friends now.”

“Oh, did they?” Yang was looking at him, he didn’t know for how long, and when he noticed they both quickly looked away. “How about you go to and pick a story to read for tonight with Blake?”

“Okay”, Rose said, not even trying not to sound upset. She got up and made a point of stomping her tiny feet to the ground as hard as she could.

“Bedtime was always difficult with her”, Yang said. “She had the worst tantrums and I can’t just put her to bed, go away and let her cry herself to sleep. At the moment it works because Blake reads her a story until she’s asleep, but I’ll have to either skip her bedtime for today or throw you two out because no way she’s going to go to bed as long as you’re here.”

“I don’t think we’ll stay much longer. Except there’s something else you want to talk about.”

“I think that can way. I mean… I don’t know. Maybe we should figure all that parenting stuff out together, how we want to handle things and all that.” She ran her fingers through her hair again, something he had dreamed of doing sometimes, moments when he had been too weak to stop himself. That and a couple of other things he didn’t dare too think about right now.

“Yeah, probably.”

“Maybe we could meet, just the two of us, and discuss this. For dinner or coffee or I just come over, I don’t know. Not as a date, I mean why would it be, I don’t know why I’m even saying this, it’s just just… you know, talking this through.”

It sounded an awful lot like the first time she had asked her out. The restaurant had been awful, they had argued about who should pay the bill, made out twice on their way home and ended up in his dorm room, having sex while trying not to wake up his roommate. Back then he had considered that a great first date, but things hadn’t turned out as he had hoped. “Sure”, he said.

“I have to check when I can get a babysitter. I’ll… tell you when I’m free, alright?”

“Yes.” She looked as if she wanted to say something, but he felt like if they stayed like this longer things might happen he didn’t want to happen.

He got up. “I think we’ll go now”, he said. “So you can take her to bed without drama.” He didn’t look back when he left the kitchen.

 

* * *

 

“So… you solved your differences with Weiss?”, he asked.

“What?” Emerald looked up and blushed.

“I mean you weren’t fighting anymore when Yang threw you out of the room.”

“Oh, yes.” She looked back at her phone. They were sitting on the sofa, watching TV even though none of them were really paying attention. Especially Emerald, who had been texting all evening. “I still don’t like her.”

“Is that another new dating app?”, he asked, needing all of his self-control not to smirk.

“I gave those up. Too many guys asking for threesomes.”

“A date?”

She looked at him as if she was trying to decide whether to tell him to mind his own business or not. “Maybe.”

He raised his eyebrows. He had a pretty good idea on who she was texting. Usually she told him all about her dates, _all_ about it, but that now she didn’t was more suspicious than she might think. “Is she coming over?”

“Maybe.”

“Want me to go to bed early tonight?”

For a moment she seemed like she was about to snap at him. “Yeah. And maybe not leave your room.”

He smirked. “Sure.”

“No, seriously. I… I told her I live here alone.”

“How are you going to explain all the boy’s clothes lying around? The shoes?”

“Maybe they’re mine? Don’t be that ignorant.”

“They’re still not your size, Em.”

She threw a pillow at him and groaned. “Just don’t be a dick for once, okay? She probably won’t even look at my apartment that much.”

He threw it back and got up. “Just try not to be too loud.”

“Can’t promise.” She smirked nervously.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Surprise, I'm back. Surprise, it's a scene that has already happened. Just from another point of view. Enjoy.

“She will kill me”, Weiss said, running her hands through her hair. “Oh god, what did you make me do?”

“I didn’t make you do anything.” Emerald felt bad for Rose, bad for Mercury, even a little bad for Weiss. Mostly for Rose though.

“I didn’t even want to tell you what to do, I really just wanted to give you a well meant advice. I quit my job and it was the best decision of my life. You know, I didn’t have it easy all the time.”

“Oh, how hard could it have been?” Emerald avoided looking at her.

“My mother is always drunk, my father spent his life telling me I’m not good enough and he threw me out when I didn’t want to follow his path of shady business and morally questionable decisions.”

“So you ended up without anything, just like I started.”

“I only wanted to help. Why is it so hard to be nice to people? Why do people always think I’m rude when I just want to be nice?”

Maybe because Emerald always assumed the worst when it came to other people. Too many people had screwed her over. Too many people had had the worst intentions. “Do we have to discuss this now?”

“If you don’t want to discuss this at all, just-“

“Okay, you just wanted to be nice, got it. So what now?”

Weiss fell silent for a moment. She looked at Emerald, then looked away. “You know, I… how can you seem so nice at first and then be so mean?”

“I’m not mean.” At least she hadn’t intended to be mean. Only to protect herself from people screwing her over again. “I don’t… you know, you’re just like all those girls who have everything and look down on you when you come close.”

“I never looked down on you.”

“If you say so.”

“I really just thought you’re pretty and nice and hot until you started to be mean.”

“Did you just say hot?”

Weiss blushed and it was probably the most satisfying thing Emerald had ever seen. “I didn’t, I… I didn’t mean to say that.”

Something about her being flustered and in a loss for words did things to Emerald. Things she probably should have acted on by leaving and never seeing her again. But Weiss looked almost adorable that way and it was a victory she couldn’t get enough of. “You totally said hot.” She got up, smirking.

“I didn’t say hot, okay? I didn’t.”

“You just said you didn’t mean it which implies that you actually said it, so… what is it? Did you say it and not mean it or didn’t you say it at all?”

“Even if I would have said it I wouldn’t have meant it.” Weiss stared her straight in the eye, still blushing, but also almost angry now. “Don’t do that.”

“Do what?”

“Just… this. Stop looking at me like that!”

Instead of replying she kissed her. It was probably the most stupid thing she had ever done, but the gasp Weiss made, how she didn’t move for a second and then pulled her closer, kissed her more passionately and hungry than Emerald had ever expected her to, that was worth it. Absolutely worth it.

She pinned her against the wall and Weiss pulled her closer, almost desperately. If Weiss hadn’t been a damn good kisser Emerald would have been sure she had never kissed anyone before. Maybe not a girl. The thought made this even more satisfying.

“Come on, let’s see what Em and Weiss are doing”, Mercury said and they jumped apart.

“Fuck”, she hissed, moving away until she was basically at the other end of the room. She didn’t want to grant Mercury this satisfaction. She tried to regain her composure when he came back into the kitchen.

“Did you stop yelling at each other?”, he asked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be more of EmWeiss in this story, but also more of this day. Just not in this story because if we ever get this done it will be... not safe for work.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This now takes place the same day, just a bit later that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So if you ask yourself "Oh, Eva, this is the best thing you have ever written, how did you suddenly become that good?" then I have to tell you that well, I didn't write that on my own. My beloved qlexy helped me with it and she is amazing and you should check out her work or her Tumblr (fadingemeralds). 
> 
> There might be a nsfw version of this chapter in the future. I won't put any smut in this story, it will rated and tagged accordingly. But if you want that... tell us! Might motivate us to get this thing done. 
> 
> And did I mention qlexy is amaaaazing?

_Bet you’d have pulled away first if Merc hadn’t disturbed us._

Weiss stared at her phone over and over again, almost convinced she had waited too long to respond. She groaned and stared out of the window, it was slowly getting dark and she had given up on getting anything done today a while ago. Now she was just lying on her bed and thinking of a thousand different ways to reply, all of them too needy or cheeky or lewd.

What was she supposed to do?

 _That’s what you think. I guess we’ll never find out_ , she typed, no, that was way too forward. She wanted to delete it and accidentally hit send.

“No!” She sat up abruptly, eyes wide and threw her phone onto the bed and away from her. “No, no, no!” This wasn’t happening, this couldn’t be happening.

Her phone buzzed and she hesitantly peeked at the screen. Groaning, she picked up her phone again, opening the message.

_What do you think would’ve happened?_

So they were doing that now. Weiss bit her lip. She had never done anything like that, never even sent a suggestive text to anyone. She took a deep breath.

_Isn’t it obvious?_

She was more satisfied with that answer, even though she didn’t know what to expect. She just… she didn’t even know if Emerald just did this to make fun of her or…

Weiss blushed at the thought of that other possibility.

_Enlighten me._

Did she actually have to spell it out for her? Was that what she wanted? Well, yes, probably, but… should she? She could end this conversation right now and never look back. There might be some awkward tension between the two of them the next time they saw each other, but that, too, would pass and everything would go back to normal again.

It was the sensible thing to do.

But the thought of Emerald’s soft lips against hers, skin on skin, her hands wandering places she only ever explored on her own… how she smelled, felt, tasted… -

Weiss was uncomfortably hot all of a sudden.

Oh, fuck it, she was risking it.

_Sex would’ve happened. Unless you had other things in mind._

There it was. She had said it. Voiced being sexually attracted to another woman. A woman she barely knew and didn’t even like. She couldn’t even breathe properly, it was like somebody had sucked the air out of the room and the only thing that would keep her from suffocating was Emerald’s damn answer. She startled when her phone buzzed again.

_It’s exactly what I had in mind. Glad we’re on the same page._

Weiss could feel the sweat running down her back as she typed an answer. It was a very hot summer day, after all.

_What a shame we were interrupted, then._

Did she really want this? Well, yes. No. Everything that was keeping her from it, the thought of doing something new and exciting and completely inappropriate, made it even more thrilling.

_It’s never too late._

Her heart skipped a beat and she inhaled sharply. This was a very, very bad idea. What if somebody found out? They would… - 

Well.

It’s not like they were in any position to judge her. Yang never made a secret out of her short-lived affairs, telling them the details even if nobody asked. At least Weiss wouldn’t risk a pregnancy if she did the same.

Ruby, on the other hand, really wouldn’t care. That was just a fact.

And Blake? Blake had the worst boyfriend imaginable.

So really, they’d probably be ecstatic about her bonding with the woman… if you could call it that.

_Is right now too late?_

She would come to regret this.

_Your place?_

Her mouth felt dry. Had she lost her mind?

_My sister has colleagues over for dinner. Your place?_

The answer came immediately. Way too fast for her liking.

_We’ll have to wait until Mercury’s asleep or at least in his room. Come over around twelve?_

Weiss answered before she could overthink it. Hasty decisions weren’t her style, but she was eager to indulge her curiosity.

_Yes, tell me your address._

She hit send and buried her face in her pillow. So she had a date. Actually had a date. A sex date. For sex. She groaned and tried to ignore the heat creeping up her neck.

Getting ready felt like it took an eternity when in reality it could’ve only been about an hour. She took a shower (a very, very cold one), shaved her legs and told herself not to put too much effort into her appearance while she did her make up. She didn’t want to seem desperate or like she wanted to make an impression. Emerald would probably laugh at her for it.

Weiss wasn’t sure what to wear, picking a white lace dress from the closet and twirling in front of her mirror before she decided that this was way too innocent for what was to come. Maybe. Probably. She wasn’t a virgin and she wouldn’t look it - even if her experience was limited at best.

She eventually settled for one of her blue summer dresses, something more casual but also pretty. Yang once told her that she’d totally bang her while she was wearing it, so… that couldn’t be so bad, right?

Her phone buzzed again. For a moment she was sure Emerald would cancel their date. That the thought didn’t relieve her said a lot more about her current state of mind than she was comfortable with.

_Can’t wait. Text me when you get there._

The dress felt way too tight all of a sudden.

_See you there._


	14. Chapter 14

“I think she took it well”, Blake said, pouring in more wine for her. “Stop worrying that much.”

“I don’t want to be the reason she’s in therapy ten years from now.” Yang took the glass and leaned back. They had put Rose to bed hours ago and how they were sitting on the couch, not really concentrating on the movie they had been watching, thoughts spinning around everything that had happened today. “What if she feels like he didn’t want her?”

“Can you just drink wine until you forget how to write his name?”

“Working on it.” She sipped on her wine and tried to come up with a different topic to talk about than him. Tried for like two seconds. “I asked him out. I mean I didn’t ask him out. I just asked him if he’d be okay with meeting up to talk about… parenting and all that.”

“So you’re going on a date?”

“No, not a date!”

“Oh, I need more wine for that.” Blake took the bottle and poured the rest of the wine into her glass.

“For what? Talking about Merc?”

“No, for you denying you’re still totally into that guy.”

Yang almost choked on her wine. “Stop that bullshit”, she finally said, still coughing. “You know, if that couch hadn’t been that expensive I’d throw this wine at you right now.”

“Oh, come on. How long have we been friends? I witnessed every little step of you helplessly falling in love with that guy six years ago, everything that happened after that, every new relationship. Seriously. The way you look at him? That’s everything I need to know. You’re still into him.”

She took a deep breath, another sip of wine that made her cough again. “I don’t think I… I mean come on. He’s obviously hot. Stop rolling your eyes, I hate your boyfriend and you think he’s hot anyway. I mean we had a thing going on, it’s obviously a bit awkward and weird, but that’s not the same thing as being in love. Also it would never work out. He’s still mad at me. He has every reason to be mad at me, I didn’t tell him about Rose for six years. So no, it’s not a date, it’s really just us talking about how to handle things from now on.”

“You always try to be reasonable by completely ignoring your own feelings and it always leads to a catastrophe. I’m calling it now, you’ll end up sleeping with him again.”

“I totally won’t. I can just get another hot guy who’s not the father of my daughter, that’ll do.”

“Yang, I-“ The sound of a door cracking open made her shut up. Tiny footsteps in the hallway and a few seconds later Rose walked into the living room. The sad look on her face made Yang’s heart ache.

“Mummy, I had a nightmare”, she sniffed, pressing the ragged black cat to her chest, her favourite plushie.

“Oh no. What was it about?” She tried not to look too concerned when Rose climbed on her lap. She wrapped her arms around her tightly.

“Spiders.” Rose cuddled up to her and Blake moved closer, stroking Rose’s head.

Thank god it hadn’t been about Mercury. “Oh, spiders are scary”, Yang said. “They really are.”

“But there are no spiders here, I checked that”, Blake said.

Rose looked up, tired but not that upset anymore. “Can I sleep in your bed tonight?”

“Mine or Blake’s?”, Yang asked.

“Both.”

Blake chuckled. “That must have been some really scary spiders. Guess we’ll have to go to bed soon then. You really need your sleep, Rosie.”

“Come on, I’ll get you to bed and we can leave the lights on while Blake and I get ready for bed.” Yang got up, Rose in her arms now, wrapping her tiny arms around her neck. “So, my room or Blake’s?”

“Blake’s. Her bed is more comfy.” Rose leaned her head against Yang’s chest and when Yang went to Blake’s room and laid her down on the bed she already struggled to keep her eyes open.

“I’ll get you your blanket”, Yang said. “Anything else?”

“You have to come to bed soon.”

“Yeah, I’ll hurry.” She kissed Rose’s forehead. “Blake was already in her pyjama, she’ll be here soon.”

Yang went to her bathroom and changed into her pyjama, too the prosthetic off. Blake was already lying in bed when Yang came back with Rose’s blanket, cuddling the child. “Turn the lights off?”

Yang did, crawling under the blanket with them in the dark. Rose was turning around in Blake’s arms so she could cuddle up to Yang as well. She always wanted to be in the middle. Yang wrapped her arm around Rose and Blake. “Good night, Rose.”

“I’m not tired”, she mumbled. Yeah, she _totally_ wasn’t.

It took her less than a minute to fall asleep. “Good night”, Blake whispered. Yang smiled and closed her eyes. They had spent the first months like this, both cuddling up in a small bed with Rose sleeping in her crib, taking turns on getting up when she woke up crying. Constantly exhausted and Yang full of hormones , clinging to Blake for cuddles, emotional support and help with the frighteningly new situation. Yang had been crying literally all the time, even more often than Rose, and it had took her months to stop feeling guilty about depending on Blake so much. But the simple truth was that Blake hadn’t only been one of the few friends who hadn’t ditched her as soon as she had announced her pregnancy. Blake was a part of her family. More than just a godmother to Rose. She had raised her with Yang. If anyone had earned the missing spot of Rose’s dad it was Blake, not Neptune or Mercury.

They didn’t sleep in one bed often now, but sometimes Rose insisted on it and Yang loved every time Blake had made her boyfriend sleep in her bed alone while she stayed in Yang’s room. She buried her face in Rose’s soft curls and tried to push the thought of Mercury out of her head. This was her family. She didn’t need another boyfriend who left her for some girl without a child.


	15. Chapter 15

“No, we’re already late”, Mercury said, carrying Rose on his shoulders as he walked down the street. “I’ll get you a cookie for lunch.”

“But I want one for breakfast.” She sounded like she was about to cry. Hell, no tantrum in the morning, please.

“Your mum said no sweets for breakfast.”

“I already had breakfast. It’s breakfast dessert.”

“I’m not sure if that exists.”

“It does!”

He sighed. “How about we ask Emerald?” He walked around the corner and stopped. The street was full with police cars, people running around. He bit his lip. Every time he saw the police he felt like running away. He hissed when Rose grabbed his hair so tightly it hurt. “Probably just some… burglar”, he said to calm her down.

“What if the burglar sees us?”

“It’s a nice burglar. I’m friends with all of them.”

“Do we have to run away now?”, she whispered.

“No, we didn’t do anything wrong”, he said, also to reassure himself, and then he finally brought himself to move his legs again.

“Hey, you can’t go here!”, a young police officer said, approaching him quickly as Mercury tried to ignore the cold shivers that ran down his spine. “Please take another street.”

“No, I work there”, he said. “Twentytwo, Fall Software Development.”

“Oh.” The officer stopped, looked at him. “Then I’ll have to ask you to come with me.”

“Why?” Mercury stood still, stopping himself from clenching his hands around Rose’s legs too much.

“You know Cinder Fall?”

“Yeah, she’s my boss.”

“We just arrested her.”

Oh. Well, this didn’t come as much of as surprise as it maybe should have. “For what?”

“Can we discuss that inside? We need your testimony anyway.”

Testimony. Come on, he told himself. They didn’t want him, they wanted her. “Inside the office?”

“If you don’t mind. We’re just done searching for evidence.”

It was hard to keep his composure while he followed the man inside. They didn’t want him, he kept telling himself. This wasn’t about him. He hadn’t done anything wrong. He didn’t even have a clue what they had arrested Cinder for. The only thing that kept him from freaking out was Rose who seemed to sense his mood and clung to his hand as soon as he lifted her off his shoulders.

He could hear the barking as soon as they entered the building. “I think Grimm is scared”, Rose whispered.

“You can hug it better.”

He had never been so glad to see Emerald. The office was full of police officers, Emerald standing in the hallway and showing one of them Cinder’s secret safe behind the bookshelf. The barking was coming from the waiting room, the door now being closed.

“That dog has been running wild ever since we arrested her”, the police officer said. “We already called a vet. I guess we won’t have any other options than putting him down eventually.”

“What does putting down mean?”, Rose asked and Mercury shot the police officer his most threatening glare.

“It means they’ll give him an injection and then he’ll die.” The officer shrugged. “Sorry, I’m not a big fan of lying to children.”

“What?”, Rose shrieked and clinging to Mercury’s legs. “No, you can’t let them do that!”

“Just asking, can I file an official complaint for traumatising a child?”, Mercury asked while Rose was shaking beside him.

“I’m sorry, I’m not sure if-“

The next moment Rose stormed past him and opened the door that had kept the hell hound inside. She wrapped her arms around him and started to cry while the beast of course didn’t stop barking and growling.

“Merc, what the…” Emerald looked at him, then at Rose and the dog.

“I could shoot it, in case it bites the child”, the officer said, unsure of what to do.

“Only if you want her to bite you. She loves that dog.” Emerald shook her head. “Why is she crying?”

“Because that officer just told her they’d kill the dog”, Mercury said.

“What the hell is wrong with you”, Emerald snapped. “Rose, no one is going to kill Grimm, now please calm him down.”

“The dog has to go somewhere and your boss might go to prison for a while. No one will take an aggressive beast like that.”

Rose didn’t stop sobbing, the beast didn’t stop barking. Mercury could feel Emerald’s gaze on him. “No”, he whispered. Emerald poked him. Rose was still crying as she was about to receive her first childhood trauma. It hurt him more than he liked to admit. “I’ll take him”, he finally said.

“Are you sure?”, the officer asked. But Rose stopped crying immediately and looked up.

“Only if he behaves and doesn’t eat my stuff”, he said.

“So he’s mine now?”, Rose asked, suddenly not that upset anymore.

“As long as he doesn’t eat my stuff.” What had he gotten himself into? But at least that damn dog stopped barking now and Emerald unfortunately didn’t stop him. “Now, can someone finally tell me what’s going on?”

 

* * *

 

As it turned out Cinder had started a little side business by manipulating software so certain amounts of money that somehow made it into the pockets of people who paid her wouldn’t show up in any calculations. Mercury didn’t manage to relax until the officer told him that Cinder had confessed everything and they already knew Emerald and he hadn’t had anything to do with this. He handed the officer his business laptop without hesitation, he had copies of all data he actually needed at home, and after they had told him to come back for a detailed testimony this week they were allowed to leave.

“So, what do we do now?”, Emerald asked as they packed their few personal belongings.

“Get another job? Start our own business?” He shrugged. “Come on, it’s not like we enjoyed working for Cinder anyway.”

“We can’t just start our own business, it’s not- how are we supposed to pay our rent?”

“I saved up.”

“But how long is that going to last?”

He sighed and took his backpack. “Come on, we survived worse.”

She looked at him, then nodded. “Are you alright?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” He didn’t dare to look at her. “Come on, let’s go. We still have to buy some food for that beast on our way home.”

Rose had stayed in the waiting room with Grimm and a different police officer, or rather had told the police officer to stay at the other end of the room and not dare to come closer in a tone that left no doubt as to who her mother was. Now she was still sitting in that corner, cuddling the hell dog and shooting the officer angry glares.

“Come, Rose”, Mercury said. “We’ll go home.”

“Grimm is scared of the police”, Rose said so loud it was clear she wanted the officer to hear it. The dog didn’t look scared at all. “And he wants ice cream on the way home.”

“Dogs don’t eat ice cream.”

“I’ll eat it for him.” She got up and the dog followed her. He wouldn’t get rid of that beast anytime soon now. What had he gotten himself into?

“We’ll get you some ice cream”, Emerald said. “But we have to buy some things for your new buddy on our way home.”

“Doesn’t Cinder want to have Grimm back?”, Rose asked as they left the office.

“Well, she probably can’t take care of him for a long time and I’m sure she’d want you to look after him.”

Probably also because Rose was the only human that beast would accept as his new owner. “How about you pick him a nice new collar?”, Mercury asked. Of course the police hadn’t let them into Cinder’s office to look for a collar there.

At least that dog behaved around Rose. He stayed by her side like a bodyguard, kept calm and waited outside the ice cream store even though Mercury had hoped he’d run away, licked Rose’s hands afterwards and Emerald had a hard time explaining to Rose why she still had to wash her hands before going to the pet store.

Emerald staid outside with the dog while Mercury and Rose entered the ginormous store. Mercury had no idea there were so many pet related things one could buy. “He needs food”, Rose said.

“He needs… a lot.” He looked around and saw a bored teenage boy reading a comic behind the counter. “Hey, are you actually getting paid here?”

The boy almost dropped his comic. “Can I help you?”

“Yes. We have a dog now. What does it need?”

“Do you have collars with glitter?”,  Rose asked.

“Oh, for how long do you have the dog?” The boy got up. “What kind of dog?”

“About thirty minutes”, Mercury said and the boy looked like he had told him he had spontaneously decided to buy a zoo. “It belonged to my boss, my boss is in prison, I got to keep the dog. It’s a big one. Could be mistaken for a small bear. That big.”

“Do… do you know the race?”

“I’m pretty sure it’s a dog. He’s outside if you want to check for yourself.”

“I’ll… I’ll assume you don’t know how old he is?”

“She got him three years ago, he was about half as big back then.”

He seemed to decide he didn’t want to deal with this today. “Okay, just… follow me”, he said and brought them to a big shelf with collars. “You’ll need this size, pick something and I’ll get you everything you need.”

Finally someone who was useful for once.

“I think he wants the pink one”,  Rose said immediately. “Look, it’s so pretty.”

He reached up and gave it to her, pink with glitter and tiny hearts. “Pink leash as well?”

“No, the yellow one. I like yellow. Or should we get the yellow collar and the pink leash?”

“We can just get both and you can switch.” He’d lose one of those eventually.

“Yes!” She clapped her hands. “Look, there are toys. He needs toys.”

“One toy.” His flat would already get cramped with the stuff Emerald bought for her eventually.  

“Can we get him a ball? I can teach him to bring it back to me when I throw it.”

“The pink one?”

“No, blue. I like the blue one.”

The boy came back, this time with a trolley. “I got you everything you’ll need for the first couple of days”, he said. “A pillow, a blanket, bowls, bags, a brush, shampoo, dog food, treats and a book on owning a dog for dummies.” 

He tried not to take it as an insult. After all he wasn’t wrong. “Shampoo? You need to wash these?”

“Please read the book.”

He sighed. “I didn’t even-“ He looked at Rose. “Yeah, I’ll read the book. I’ll take all that and what she has.”

 

* * *

 

The dog behaved, at least as long as Rose was with him. Rose picked a spot beneath the window for his pillow and Mercury already knew he’d sleep in her room eventually, but they hadn’t shown that one to her yet. Emerald had wanted to wait until it was finished.

“It says you’re not supposed to just let him eat how much he wants”, Emerald said, sitting on the couch and reading the book that boy from the shop had begged him to buy. “There’s a chart. Can you guess how much he weighs?”

“Well… much? We’ll have to weigh him later.” He looked at Rose and Grimm, both cuddling on his new pillow. “How did I end up with a child, a dog and no job within three months?” He lowered his voice so Rose wouldn’t hear them.

“How did I end up with all this and my roommate still lusting after that girl’s mother?”, she whispered and he threw a pillow at her.

“We don’t talk about that.”

“I’d totally do her.”

And she was also probably doing said mother’s friend. He had heard them the night after they had told Rose, they hadn’t exactly been quiet, and the fact Emerald hadn’t told him anything about that night was more than just suspicious. “I did her”, he whispered back. “You’d lust after her too if you had seen her naked.”

“Knew it.” She smirked.

“No, this is not the same, stop right there.”

“She’s-“

“Rose”, he said, now loud enough for the neighbours to hear it. “Are you hungry?”

“Yes”, she said. She got up and walked towards them, climbed on the couch and sat down next to him. Grimm followed her, of course he did, sat down next to the couch. “What do we have for dinner?”

“I’ll make pasta.” Emerald got up. “Remember to wash your hands before you eat.”

“You don’t have to wash your hands _all_ the time.” Rose rolled her eyes and leaned back. “Mercury?”

“Hm?”

“Did you lose your job now?” She didn’t dare to look at him, like she always did when she was asking something that really mattered to her.

“Yes.”

“So… will you and Emerald now move in with us?”

That was certainly now what he had expected. “What? Why?”

“When Neptune lost his job he didn’t have much money so he moved in with us.”

Oh. Neptune again. “I saved some money for bad times.” Or starting his own company. “Also we’ll find a new job soon. Don’t worry.”

“But I’d like you to move in with us.”

He sighed. That would probably never happen. “But we live quite close. You can come and visit all the time.”

“But that’s not the same. Everyone always lives somewhere else and I never see them. I want to see everyone all the time but I can’t.”

“Come on, don’t be sad.” He felt helpless when she was sad about things he couldn’t change. “After all you’ve got a dog now.” Probably not the best approach to comfort her.

“But he also lives here.”

“You can visit him as often as you want.”

“But I want to have one family, not two or three.”

Grimm started to lick her feet and for once he didn’t hate that dog. “But… you know, it’s actually not that bad. You have two nice places to live now. It would be worse to have no nice place to live at all. Also… you know, if we both lived with Yang, who would live with Emerald? I have to take care of her, she has no other family and she’d be so lonely without us. She’s happy to have you here.”

“Why doesn’t she have more family?”

“Sometimes parents can’t take care of their children.” Sometimes they didn’t want to. Sometimes they were exceptionally bad at it. “Not your parents. But I’m the only one she’s got right now.”

“That’s wrong. If she’s part of your family she’s part of mine as well.”

“Yes, I guess she is.” He smiled.


	16. Chapter 16

Of course she was late again. He hadn’t been that fond of the idea of meeting in a restaurant to begin with, him having to wait at an empty table while the waiters probably made bets over whether his date would show up or not didn’t make it any better. But he also knew they both actually needed to meet up alone for once, without oh so many eyes on them, people listening or interrupting.

Or maybe this was a terrible idea after all.

Anyway, it was too late for those thoughts now as Yang walked through the restaurant towards his table. Her white summer dressed hugged her curves in all the right places and her smile made him clench a fist under the table nervously. A familiar warmth rushed through his veins. Well, fuck. Maybe he was still attracted to her. It was probably just her cleavage. Yeah, just that.

“Sorry I’m late.” She sat down and reached for the menu. “Had to put Rose to bed. She keeps talking about this dog. Not that I want to tell you what to do but why did you get her a dog?”

He groaned. Grimm wasn’t as bad as he had been before Rose had happened, but he still insisted on lying on the couch all the time, growled whenever they tried to teach him he wasn’t actually allowed to do that. “My boss got arrested for something I didn’t have anything to do with, then the police officer told her they’d have to kill the dog so I said I’d take him before she gets traumatised.”

She chuckled. “You took the dog? For her? You’re such a dad.”

“Oh, come on. Don’t get me started on how much of a mum you’ve become.” He reached for a menu so he wouldn’t have to look at her. “You bring precooked lunch.”

“She’s so picky about her food!”

“She eats literally everything Emerald gives her.” He tried half-heartedly to suppress a smile.

“I don’t believe that.”

“Raw broccoli. Even that horrible vegan date bread.”

“Maybe check if she really eats it or just feeds it to the dog.”

“As if that dog would even touch raw broccoli.” He shook his head and closed the menu. “Picked anything?”

“You said you’ve never been here, how did you scan through the whole menu faster than me?”

“I just read until I found something I like, didn’t read the rest of it.”

“No, you can’t do that. What did you pick?”

“Spaghetti Bolognese.”

“Mercury, that’s literally the first meal on the menu.”

He leaned back, crossed his arms behind his head and smirked. “It’s not, there are starters before that.”

“Okay, how about Carbonara? Arabiata?”

“No, actually Bolognese is my favourite.”

“Do you want to eat pizza? They even put what you want on it if you ask nicely, Rose always wants tuna and extra cheese. Or lasagne? They also have awesome salads and-“

She stopped when he reached forward and took the menu out of her hands. “I’m pretty happy with my choice”, he said. “Did you pick something?”

“Yes.” She crossed her arms in front of her chest. “Do you ever think things through?”

“Sometimes.” He closed the menu. “I don’t really want to think too much about what to pick in a restaurant though. Everything other than just picking the first thing I don’t hate gives me a headache.”

“But you’ll miss out on amazing opportunities.”

“I can live with that.”

She shook her head and he couldn’t help but to stare at a strand of hair that had escaped her messy bun. Her wearing her hair up had driven him wild back then and was now driving him wild again. He wanted to undo it, free the golden curls and run his fingers through her hair, bury his face in-

“Anything wrong?”, she asked.

“What?” He took a bread stick just so he had an excuse to avoid her gaze.

“You’re staring.”

“No, I’m not. Anyway, Rose.” He looked at her again. “We’re here to talk about her.”

“Yes, right.” Yang shook her head for a moment and Mercury would have given a lot to know what she as thinking right now. “Actually I made a list.”

“A list?” He raised his eyebrows.

“Yeah, just… rules Blake and I set. It would make sense if we both stuck to them. Stuff like how much TV she’s allowed to watch, no sweets for breakfast, all that.” She reached for her bag and began to search it, throwing everything that was not the list she was looking for on the table. Her bag was a bigger mess than the space beneath his sofa.

“Planning on using that tonight?”, he asked, pointing at a condom that was now lying right next to the menus.

“What- oh, oh no, no no no no no!” She reached for it, but he was faster, grabbed it and leaned back.

“Don’t be a fool, wrap your tool? Who puts that one the package of a condom?”

“Give that back, I swear to god, if you don’t-“

“You’re blushing so hard right now.” He laughed and gave it back to her. She quickly shoved it back into her bag, scanning the other items on the table for something potentially embarrassing. If she had any idea how much he loved the view of a completely flustered Yang she probably would have used it against him.

“That was still left from… you know, my ex broke up with me, Blake told me to stop eating ice cream and crying while watching children’s movies with Rose every night, so she told me to go out and have some fun, gave me some funny condoms because they were the only ones she found at the gas station.”

“And you didn’t have any fun in the end?”

“No, yes. Slept with a girl that night.” She found what she had been looking for and handed him a crumpled piece of paper before she began to shove everything back into her bag. “Anyway, where’s the damn waiter?” She turned around, spotted the waiter cleaning up another table and aggressively waved at him.

He took a look at the list. A lot of thing he didn’t mind sticking to, he’d totally forget about everything anyway so what did it matter? He’d just give it to Emerald again. The waiter finally came, looked at him as if they were personally bothering him. “Spaghetti Arabiata”, Yang said. “And for him Bolognese, if you haven’t changed your mind.”

“No, I didn’t.” He shoved the list into his back pocket.

“Also bring me a red wine, something that’s not too sweet. You’re going to have wine as well?”

“No, coke.”

The waiter left again and he tried not to notice Yang was still blushing. “So, you’ve read the list?”, she asked.

“Yeah, I don’t think I’ll have a problem with that.”

“Really? Not that I’m complaining.” She put her bag back under the table. “Honestly, we’ve bullshitted our way through the first years. We’re trying not to punish her too much, rather talking to her and all that, I don’t know how you were raised, but my father wasn’t that strict, so… I don’t know, usually you just see what your parents did right and pick that up, don’t you?”

Only if one’s parents did anything right. “I don’t think I’ll be the strict one here so…”

“But don’t let her just do whatever she wants.”

“I’m pretty sure Emerald will remember everything on that list.”

The waiter brought them their drinks and for a moment they awkwardly avoided to look at each other. “So… Emerald”, she said eventually. “She’s your girlfriend?”

“She’s gay.” He wasn’t even sure why he told her. He just could have said no. Emerald didn’t mind, but he usually didn’t even bother to deny them being together.

“Oh, didn’t know that. I just thought… well, as you live together…” She was blushing again and he had no idea if this was the moment he would later think back to, the moment where he could have stopped himself doing something incredibly stupid.

“It saves money.” That was barely the reason, they would have lived together even if it had been more expensive. He shrugged and leaned back. “So, how is your new job going?”

 

* * *

 

“You’re overexaggerating.”

“I took one bite of your pasta and my mouth is still burning.”

She laughed and it was hard to stop looking at her as they walked down the street. “Not my fault you can’t deal with a bit of spice in your food.” She undid her bun and shook her hair. Pretty much impossible to look away. “I have to turn left here, you live right down the street, don’t you?”

“Yes.” He stopped and looked at her, burying his hands in the pockets of his jeans. He didn’t know what to say or do. Did they hug? No, better not. “So… you got to talk about everything you wanted to talk about?”

“Yeah, pretty much.” She ran her hand through her hair and then looked at him. He felt like if he didn’t lean down to kiss her now nothing made any sense anymore. “So, good night then”, she said.

“Yeah, good night.” She bit her lip and he turned away too quickly not to come off as rude, almost not fast enough to keep himself from doing something stupid.


	17. Chapter 17

_Thinking of you._

Weiss stared at her phone, trying to stop her heart from beating way too fast. What was she supposed to reply? _Same_? No, that would just imply she was thinking about herself. Damn, this was complicated.

“Who’s it?”, Winter asked.

“No one.” Weiss blushed and laid her phone on the table in front of her. “Can I help you with the salad?”

“No, I’m almost done.” Winter laid down the knife. “Come on, Weiss. I know you and I’m not stupid.”

“It’s nothing, really.”

“Got a date?”

“Winter…” Weiss buried her face in her hands. “Don’t make me... I don’t want to say it out loud.”

“You have a date!” Winter laughed and sat down at the opposite side of the table. “Who is it?”

“I don’t have a date, I… it wasn’t a date, okay?”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Read for yourself.”

She couldn’t look at her, got up and started to check if the pasta was ready even though she knew Winter had just thrown it into the boiling water. “Oh, Weiss”, Winter said. “I never knew you’d be capable of casual sex.”

“It’s not… yeah, okay, it was.” Her cheeks were burning. “I don’t know why I did that, it’s just… wait, what are you typing?”

“She’s pretty, I replied for you before you screw this up.” Winter handed her her phone. “You’re welcome.”

Weiss stared at the last message. _Thinking of your lips_. “Oh my god, are you serious? I would never write something like that!”

“That’s why you’re single.”

“She doesn’t even like me that way, okay? And this is definitely not going to get me a girlfriend, you know maybe I don’t even want her to be my girlfriend.” Her phone buzzed.

“What did she say?”

Weiss stared at her phone. “Shut up.”

“Come on, it can’t be that bad.”

“I just don’t want to admit you were right, okay?” She stared at the last message. _Wanna come over tonight?_

“Come on.”

“She asks me to come over.”

“I can’t believe I just got you laid.”

“Winter!” She shook her head. “Don’t phrase it that way.”

“Come on, let’s eat.” Winter got up. “And then I’ll pick you a dress and help you with hair and make-up.”

“Last time I’ve been there she was just wearing some old shirt, could have been her pyjama.” And it had looked so good on her she still wasn’t able to get the picture out of her head. “I don’t want to look overdressed.”

“But you also want to look nice. And wear something that’s easy to take off.”

Winter wasn’t wrong. Her blue dress had been a bit of a struggle last time. Maybe it wasn’t too bad to have some help. “Just… something that’s casual, but also not too casual.”

“I can put your hair up, just a bun that looks like it took no effort at all, then she can undo it.” Winter smiled.

“I’m not sure if I’m comfortable with you thinking about my sex life that much.”

 

* * *

 

“He’s asleep”, Emerald whispered and Weiss followed her upstairs. Emerald was wearing some loose top, shorts, and Weiss couldn’t stop staring at her legs. She bit her lip. Hell, when had she gotten that needy?

Weiss took her shoes off before Emerald opened the apartment door for her so she wouldn’t make that much noise. Weiss barely dared to breathe until Emerald had locked the door of her room behind her.

All of a sudden Emerald pulled her close and kissed her so passionately it took her breath away. She pulled away way too soon. “Hey”, she whispered, giving her a rarely genuine smile.

“Hey.” Weiss couldn’t help but to feel nervous when she laid her hands on Emerald’s hips.

“You’re overdressed. Do you ever just wear something casual?” Emerald reached for her hair and undid her bun, softly running her hands through the white strands.

“This is my casual outfit.” She shyly placed small kisses on Emerald’s neck. The yellow summer dress Winter had picked was one of the most casual items of clothing she owned.

Emerald stepped back and sat down on her bed, crossed her legs. “How about you take it off?” She smirked.

 

* * *

 

“How does all that hair not freak you out?” Emerald ran her hands through Weiss’ soft hair. “I get so annoyed when mine grows a bit longer.”

“I’m used to it.” Weiss’ head was resting on Emerald’s chest. For some reason Weiss felt like everything between them was different when they were lying together like that, naked and blissfully exhausted.

“You must have hair everywhere when you shower.”

“I can deal with that.” She placed small kisses in Emerald’s neck and felt her shift beneath her. It was weird how all her touches and actions lead to a response. A kiss on her neck and Emerald almost shivered, a kiss on her jawline and she turned her head, a kiss on the corner of her mouth and she pulled her down to kiss her properly.

“Are you tired?”, Emerald asked.

“Yes. Are you?”

“You have no idea.”

“Want me to turn the lights off?”

“Can you do that without getting up?”

“Probably not.”

“Alright, but hurry.”

Weiss chuckled and got up. Emerald’s room was not like she had expected it to be and it felt weirdly intimate to be here. It was full of books, but apart from that Emerald seemed to put surprisingly much effort into decorating her room. She didn’t seem to be a fan of patterns at all, but of pastels. Her bed sheets were plain blue, the carpet plain beige and there wasn’t a single item laying around where it wasn’t supposed to be, except stacks of books and the clothes they had thrown on the floor earlier. It was definitely tidier than the rest of the flat, even tidier than Weiss’ room, and that definitely meant something.

Only when she was already standing she realised Emerald was staring at her. She blushed, turned the lights off, and Weiss didn’t dare to admit she liked it. She crawled back under the blanket and chuckled when Emerald pulled her closer. “I can… wear a shirt of yours if you want me to”, she said. She wasn’t sure if she was supposed to sleep naked like last time or ask to borrow clothes. It felt weirdly domestic to even talk about it.

“Do you want to wear one?”

“No… I mean yes if you want me to. I don’t really mind. I could wear one.”

Emerald sighed. “Weiss, I’ll borrow you a shirt if you’re more comfortable wearing one.”

“I didn’t mean to say that. I don’t mind being naked around you.” She felt like she had made a big mistake when Emerald got up.

“Stop that.” She went to her closet and Weiss couldn’t help but to stare at her, the moonlight shining on her naked body.

“Stop what?”

Emerald sighed and pulled out a shirt without turning the lights on, threw it at her. Weiss felt horrible stupid when she put it on with shaking hands, but then Emerald sat down next to her, laid her hand on her cheek and kissed her softly. “I’m not gonna lie, you’re really adorable when you’re like that, but you don’t have to apologise. I’m not offended when you’re more comfortable not sleeping naked.”

“It’s just… more comfortable.”

“Weiss, stop. It’s alright.” Emerald laid down and Weiss couldn’t help but to stare at her. “Come. Let’s sleep. I’m tired.”

She cuddled up next to her and Emeralds arms around her were so comforting she was worried for a moment. Was this what a casual affair was supposed to feel like? Like she just wanted to fall asleep in her arms and wake up next to her, kiss her goodnight in the evening and her face being the first thing she saw in the morning?


	18. Chapter 18

“So… you really got her a room”, Yang said and she actually sounded impressed. She stood next to him in the doorway, watching as Rose and Emerald went through every tiny detail of the new room. It was bright, colourful, and it didn’t look like the storage room it had been before at all. Grimm was already lying on the carpet and that would probably be his favourite spot from now on, Mercury saw it coming.

“Emerald did that”, he whispered. “She’s kinda… she’ll definitely be the one to spoil her.”

“It’s lovely. Where do I sleep?”

“Come, I’ll show you.” That discussion had been going on between him and Emerald ever since they had decided to do this sleepover. In the end Emerald had changed her bed sheets and Mercury had finally cleaned his room. Sort of. He wasn’t comfortable with it, but they couldn’t really let her sleep on the couch.

He opened the door to his room. They had at least gotten rid of the clothes that were usually lying around everywhere, but his desk was still cramped. “We changed the bed sheets.”

“Your room?”, she asked.

“Yeah. I’ll share a bed with Emerald for tonight.”

“You know, I’d be fine with just sleeping on the couch.”

“No, it’s alright.” He didn’t need to tell her that he and Emerald were used to it. They both had their night terrors. They both had the agreement of not talking about it. Not to each other. Not to anyone.

“Can we watch the movie now?”, Rose asked, running towards them and Mercury grabbed her before she could hug his legs like she always did, lifting her up and carrying her to the living room.

“Did you pick a movie yet?”, he asked.

“Yes. You’ll like it. It’s a princess movie.”

He sighed. He didn’t even make it through Emerald’s movies without working on his laptop after half an hour. “Sure.”

Rose wanted to sit next to Emerald, so he ended up next to Yang, his side pressing against her body because the couch had never been meant for more than two people to sit on it. At least Grimm was alright with sleeping on the floor in front of them tonight.

“I want to be a princess”, Rose said. “If anyone’s mean to them they’ll just fight them.” She cuddled up to Emerald and Mercury couldn’t stop noticing how warm the skin of Yang’s arm felt against his, how her hair tickled his neck. He was sure he could smell her shampoo and underneath a warm scent that he shouldn’t have remembered, but he did anyway.

“Why is the princess riding a dog?”, he asked.

“It’s a wolf”, Rose said, clearly offended.

“Oh, yeah. Now I totally see that.”

Yang nudged him with her elbow, but she was laughing. He pinched his own arm just so he’d stop thinking about her thigh touching his.

Rose fell asleep before the first half of the movie was over, still cuddling Emerald. “I’ll take her to her room”, Emerald said, carefully picking her up.

“She always falls asleep during that movie”, Yang said as Emerald carried Rose to her room, followed by Grimm who still refused to leave her side.

“That dog really is big”, Yang said. “But adorable.”

“Only because he’s a sheep around Rose.”

She chuckled. “I mean, who couldn’t fall in love with her? She was the cutest baby ever, I have to show you pictures sometime.” She got up and a part of him that should have known better missed her warmth next to him. “Guess I’ll go to bed too, then. Had a long day at work.”

“Tell Em when you need anything.”

She laughed. “You’re an asshole.”

He shrugged. “And you had to sleep with me.”

“And you had to get me pregnant.”

“And you had to tell me.”

She shook her head and threw a pillow at him. “Asshole, still stands”, she said, but laughed.

“I’m not even denying it. Sleep well.”

“You too.” She laughed and looked at him fondly for a moment before she turned around to go to his room. His chest felt warm. Oh, fuck.

 

* * *

 

He couldn’t sleep.

Emerald was lying next to him and he couldn’t get himself to stop thinking about Yang. He thought about pulling Emerald close because it usually calmed him down, but with Yang in his mind it just felt wrong.

He got up and tried not to wake Emerald as he left the room. Lying next to her would eventually drive him mad.

The kitchen was dark, so he didn’t see her at first. Yang was standing next to the fridge, turning around when he entered the room. “Oh, you’re awake?”, she said. Her voice had an odd trembling to it that was more than alarming. He tried to ignore she wasn’t wearing anything than a shirt and panties.

“Couldn’t sleep.”

“I can still sleep on the couch if you want to sleep in your bed.”

“No, it’s not that.” He got himself a glass of water, just so he had something he could hold onto. “What about you?”

“Just… My arm hurts. The right one.”

“Oh.” He looked at her. She wasn’t wearing her prosthetic. “Bad?”

“It doesn’t happen often and it’s not that bad, but it’s keeping me from falling asleep.” She shrugged. “Anyway, I just wanted to… see if I could distract myself somehow.”

“Can I do anything?”

She shrugged, looked away. “I don’t want to keep you from sleeping, really.”

“Now I’m awake anyway.”

“Do you want to watch a movie?”

This was probably a bad idea. He knew he had to get along with her, but she was still… her. Passionate, beautiful, irresistible. He didn’t want this to end in a catastrophe again. But he was too good at telling himself that he had to get along with her anyway. “Sure”, he said.

“I’ll just get myself a sweater, I’m freezing.”

Yeah, because she basically wasn’t wearing anything.

They could have went to his room, sitting in bed and watching a movie on his laptop, but him and her alone in a bed? Bad idea. Very bad idea. He sat down on the couch and turned the TV on, the volume down. He forced himself not to turn around when she came back, at least until she sat down next to him. She was wearing a grey cardigan, still no pants, and carrying a blanket she then spread above the two of them. “Thought it’s a bit more cosy that way”, she said. It also made her sit way too close to him. “Just turn anything on, I honestly don’t care.”

“Isn’t that this soap about doctors?”

“I think so.” She shrugged. “You know, I couldn’t stand being around hospitals or even watching stuff like that after I lost my arm. It only changed when I got Rose. We had to go to a hospital because the doctors were worried about some blood results. I mean everything went fine in the end, but the only reason I managed to get inside was because I was in labour and in too much pain to stop Blake from dragging me to the ER.”

“Sounds like a fun day.” He wasn’t that sad he had missed out on it.

“It was horrible, but I got a child out of it, so totally worth it. Best day of my life. Also I got rid of my fear of hospitals. Anyway, why do you wear socks?”

He looked at her. “What?”

“Socks. On your feet. You don’t have feet that can get cold.”

“Yang, the prosthetics are made of metal. Do you have any idea how loud it would be if I just walked around with them? Our landlord lives in the apartment beneath us.”

“Oh, that makes sense.” She ran her hand through her hair, twirling some curls between her fingers. “You know, you never told me how you lost your legs.”

He held his breath for a second, hoping she wouldn’t notice. “Car accident.”

“You don’t want to tell me, do you?”

“Yep.”

“Okay.” She looked away, staring at the TV as if her life depended on it. “Sorry for asking.”

“No, it’s…” Okay? Well, he didn’t dare to say that. Still. But he also didn’t want her to think he was mad at her. “So Rose really loves that dog.”

“Yeah, she does. She also loves you.”

“Well, she pretty much loves everyone.”

“No, she really does. I don’t know, maybe because you’re alike in so many ways. She loves seeing you and she keeps talking about you. I think she really wants you to like her.”

He sighed. “She shouldn’t have to worry about that.” She shouldn’t have him as her father.

“About what?”

“Me liking her. Em keeps telling me I’m too cold towards her, I don’t know, I probably am. And she cares too much, she was pretty upset when I yelled at her once.”

“Welcome to parenthood.” She sighed and he almost flinched when she laid her hand on his shoulder. “You know, I cried more than her during the first year. Having a baby is hard. I mean I wasn’t alone because Blake helped. She actually didn’t just help, she was _there_ , _all_ the time. But still, I was full of hormones, and I felt like I was the worst mother ever during the first few months. The last time she made me cry was a couple of months ago when she had the worst tantrum and told me she hated me because I wouldn’t let her have those horribly sweet cornflakes. Feeling like you’re a shitty parent is part of parenthood I guess.”

He couldn’t stop thinking about her fingers touching his neck as he turned around a bit to really look at her. “Yang…”

“You’re amazing with her.”

“I’m the worst possible choice for that job. I don’t know how to be a good parent, I don’t even know what that would look like.”

“Merc, stop.”

“No, I won’t, because you should just stop telling me I’m good at this or I’ll figure this out because what if I won’t? I mean nice enough of you to trust me, but I don’t.”

She sighed and he almost couldn’t bear to look at her. “You had a crappy childhood, didn’t you?”

He looked away and regretted even talking about this. He wasn’t comfortable with talking about all that, not even with Emerald. It had just… happened. “You have no idea.” It was the most honest thing he had ever told her. He just hoped she wouldn’t ask.

But she didn’t. Instead, and he wasn’t sure if that wasn’t even worse, she wrapped her arm around his neck and pulled him into a hug. And he gave in, let himself sink against her and exhaled the breath he hadn’t noticed he had been holding. Burying his face in her hair felt so familiar and thrilling. He felt her breath on his neck and wrapped his arms around her, finally allowed himself to pull her closer, feel her body against his again.

“You know”, she said. “I always knew that at least we’d make a very pretty child.”

He chuckled, breathed in her scent. “Well, with my genes… chances are decent I’d say.”

“You asshole.” She softly bit his neck and a warm shiver ran down his spine.

“Come on, you love it.” He ran his hand through her hair. It was just as soft as he remembered. He could still feel her lips burning hot on his neck.

“Maybe a bit.”

They both laughed, nervous and warm. He felt her lips on his neck again and he knew what was going to happen, but at this point he didn’t care anymore, he didn’t want to care, he just blissfully surrendered.

Even if he had given a damn, he couldn’t have said if it was her who kissed him or him who kissed her. He just felt her warm lips, pressing against his, and he knew he had never had a chance.

Kissing her made him remember why he had fallen that desperately for her six years ago. Kissing her reminded him why he had spent six years kissing oh so many women, still comparing them to her.  He felt like his body was on fire, in the best way possible.

She pulled away way too soon, taking a deep breath when she looked at him, smiling shyly. She was blushing. He caressed her cheek. “You’re horrible”, she whispered. “One kiss and you made me want to rip off your clothes in that tiny back room so badly.”

“Just like right now?”

“Shut up.”

He chuckled and kissed the tip of her nose, slid his hands under her cardigan. She kissed him again and he knew that if he didn’t stop right here right now he would have no choice but to take her clothes off and kiss every inch of her body.

“I… I think I should go to bed”, she said.

“Yeah, it’s pretty late.”

She still didn’t let go of him, pulling him closer one last time to give him a kiss that was way too short. “Good night”, she said, stroking his cheek.

“Think you can sleep now?”

“Yeah.” She smiled before she finally pulled away. “See you tomorrow.” She got up way too quickly, grabbing the blanket and he couldn’t keep his eyes off her when she walked back to his room. He felt on edge and at the same time more at ease than in weeks.

He had no idea how he was supposed to fall asleep now.


	19. Chapter 19

He woke up with Emerald cuddled up to him, her head resting on his arm. He groaned and sat up, careful not to wake her up. His arm felt numb, he was tired, but he knew the memory of the kiss would keep him from falling asleep again.

He could hear Rose’s voice in the kitchen when he went to the bathroom. He tried to ignore the inevitable when he showered, which was probably not a good idea, but he had never been the one to make smart decisions regarding stuff like that. He took some clean clothes directly from the dryer and thought about shaving, but then decided he would hide in the bathroom forever if he didn’t leave now.

Yang was wearing shorts and a loose shirt, revealing too much of her bra to look away. She was cutting strawberries, Rose sitting on the kitchen counter next to her and talking about something he couldn’t pay attention to, Grimm sitting next to her, obviously hoping for something edible falling on the floor.

“Oh, morning.” She blushed when she saw him, quickly looked down to her strawberries again. “We’re making breakfast. No, Rose, don’t steal the strawberries while I’m still cutting them, I don’t want to accidentally cut your finger off.”

“Sorry”, Rose mumbled, not sorry at all.

“Where did you get the strawberries from?”

“Went to the store. No big deal.” She smiled and he swore she had never looked more beautiful than now, no make-up, messy hair and that warm smile. He knew he was so screwed.

“Can I help you with something?”

“I’m not sure if we should wake Emerald up or not. But… I think I’ve got everything. You could feed the dog though.”

“I’ll wake her up.” He hesitated, took one last look at her before he turned around and went back to Emerald’s room. He pulled her blanket away until she shot him a deathly glare. “Breakfast”, he said.

“We never have breakfast, asshole.” She turned around and buried her face in her pillow.

“We have a child now. Rose will be heartbroken if you don’t show up, also you have to feed the dog.”

“I hate you.” She groaned, but finally sat up. “He gets one cup for breakfast, feed him yourself.”

He rolled his eyes and went back to the kitchen, trying to get the dog food out of the cupboard without him noticing. Of course the beast noticed. He never really did anything, just pressed his nose against his thigh and looked at him, but Mercury always felt like he’d bite him any minute.

“Can you take dogs to the zoo?”, asked Rose. “I want to show Grimm the bears. I think he’s related to them.”

“Dogs aren’t related to bears”, Yang said. “And I’m not sure. Also he might not get along with all of the other animals.”

“He gets along with everyone. He’s a nice dog.”

Mercury rolled his eyes behind her back. Yeah, such a nice dog.

That minute the doorbell rang. “I can go”, Yang said. “Before you don’t give that dog his breakfast and he eats you instead.”

Probably just the postman. Mercury was glad the dog behaved well enough around Rose not to jump at him when he filled his bowl, but it was all gone in less than a minute.

“Don’t eat that fast”, Rose said. “You’ll get a tummy ache.”

Mercury could hear Yang talking to someone. “I’ll go and see who it is, don’t set the kitchen on fire.”

“I don’t set stuff on fire anymore”, Rose said. He had to ask Yang about that one day.

“Who is it?”, Mercury asked when he went to the hallway. Yang was leaning against the wall, looking at him and all of a sudden she seemed dead serious, tensed.  

“Margaret Pullman.” A woman with grey hair, holding a briefcase.

“Are you a Jehovah’s Witness?”

“I’m her social worker.”

Well, fuck.

“I went to your place for an unheralded visit, but your roommate told me you’re not at home. She was kind enough to give me the address. So this is the child’s father? Can I come in?”

“Yes, please come inside”, Yang said before he could say no, looking at him as if she was begging him to play along. “We were just making breakfast.”

“So Rose stayed over tonight?”, Margaret asked as they went to the living room.

“She stayed over for the first time tonight, so I slept here as well, just in case she gets scared. But she likes it here, she didn’t even have a nightmare.”

“Would you mind if I just looked around to see if the flat is child appropriate?”

Mercury was just glad Emerald had made him clean the whole apartment. “Sure”, he said. “Her room is over there.”

“She has her own room?”

“Of course she does”, Yang said. “He’s her father and we want her to feel like she’s always welcome here.”

“I’ll just take a quick look. Also I’d like to write down your name, just for the file. You’re her father now and we have to take everything into consideration.”

“Mercury Black”, Yang said when he didn’t answer. His tongue felt too numb to speak. “Can you go to the kitchen and get some plates? Rose must be hungry, I don’t want to make her wait much longer.”

He nodded, turned around. He hadn’t signed up for this.

Emerald was standing in the kitchen, cutting bread while Rose fed her with strawberries. “Who is it?”

“Social worker”, he said.

Rose turned around and looked at him with big eyes. “What, no!”

“Hey, Rose, it’s alright.” Emerald laid down the knife and wrapped Rose into her arms. “What’s wrong about her?”

“I don’t like her.” Rose buried her face in Emerald’s shirt. “I heard mummy and Blake talk about her. She wants to take me away from them.”

“No one is going to take you away from anyone”, Emerald said. “She probably just wants to see if everything’s nice and lovely here. We had a social worker too when I was young. She never took me away from my parents and I didn’t even have a dog.”

His throat clenched at the unspoken truth behind her words. “Hey, Rose…” He sighed and stepped closer. “It’s going to be alright. Don’t worry.” He was sure it would not be alright.

The social worker left without talking to him again. Yang seemed stressed when she came back, but she tried to seem cheerful in front of Rose when she carried the plates with food to the living room with her.

“Are you alright?”, Emerald whispered to Mercury.

“Sure”, he said, turning on the coffee machine.

“Let me rephrase, you’re not alright, what’s the matter?”

He sighed. “Come on. You know what it is. She’s gonna do a background check on me and you know exactly what she’s going to find.”

“You don’t know if she has access to those files”, Emerald said, wrapping her arms around him and leaning her head against his back. “Or if she even cares about it.”

“Let’s go have breakfast.”

He couldn’t bring himself to look at Yang while they were eating. He knew he should tell her, but he also knew he wouldn’t. Rose took her time to be her cheerful self again, but then she didn’t stop talking about taking Grimm to the park and Emerald promised to do that with her soon.

They left shortly after breakfast. Rose hugged Grimm goodbye and for a moment Yang stared at him, awkwardly biting her lip. “I’ll call you”, she said. “Because of… Rose, you know.”

“Yeah.” He wasn’t capable of saying anything else.

“So… see you.” She blushed when she turned around to leave.

“You two will be the death of me”, Emerald said.

“What?”

“Just screw her already.”

He was so close to make a snarky comment about Weiss, but he didn’t want to ruin the fun just yet. “We’re not like that.”

“Yeah, sure. Anyway, what are we going to do today?”

“Didn’t you say you had a date?”

“I cancelled it. I’m not going to leave you alone like that.”

“Like what?”, he growled.

“You know what I mean. It will just get worse when you’re alone. So what do you want? Watch a movie? Sit in bed all day and code?”

He sighed. There was no point in arguing with her about this. She wouldn’t give in. “Coding, and maybe figuring out a plan how to get an income again.”

“I’ll get my laptop.”


	20. Chapter 20

“Weiss. Stop.” Emerald took the knife out of her hand, now standing right behind her. “You’re not cutting those onions, you’re slaughtering them.”

“I always cut them that way.” Her eyes were already burning, but with Emerald’s breath stroking her neck she couldn’t concentrate on that anymore.

“You don’t cook that often, do you?”

“I can use the microwave.”

Emerald laughed and began to chop the onions herself, her arms still wrapped around Weiss, her back pressed against hers. “Oh, can you?”

“Winter usually does the cooking.”

“I’ll teach you.” Her lips briefly brushed Weiss’ neck before she pulled away. “Are you actually crying?”

“Onions.” Weiss turned around. “Just the onions.”

“You’re actually crying.” Emerald chuckled and then kissed a tear away. “Go open the window, fresh air helps.”

She didn’t want to get away from Emerald, but her eyes were burning. When the fresh air hit her face it actually did get better. “Are you sure Mercury won’t suddenly come home?” They both didn’t want to get caught. It wasn’t like meeting up to have sex and then ending up cooking instead was something they should have been embarrassed about, but they both didn’t want people to talk. This was just an affair, right? Actually it didn’t feel like one. It had stopped to feel like one after the second or third time, when Weiss hadn’t managed to get Emerald out of her head anymore, when their texts had started to be more about casual stuff than innuendos. But Weiss still tried not to expect too much.

“Very sure. He’s out with Rose and I told him I’d have someone over, he doesn’t want to walk in on me.”

Weiss tried not to be hurt at the thought of Emerald maybe seeing other women. They weren’t dating, were they? They hadn’t talked about being exclusive. Sometimes she just had to remind herself of that. “So how do you work with these?”, she asked instead, pointing at the box of lasagne sheets.

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know, I just didn’t know you could make lasagne from scratch.”

Emerald slowly shook her head and laughed, but it sounded warm. “What did you think how it was made?”

“I don’t know, I never really thought about it.”

“You’re adorable.”

Weiss blushed. “Anyway, can I help you with anything?”

“Yeah, come here.”

As soon she as close enough Emerald pulled Weiss towards her and kissed her. Passionate, breath-taking, short. Weiss felt weak on her knees all of a sudden. “How exactly does that help with the cooking?”

“Keeping the cook happy and motivated.” Emerald smirked and kissed the tip of her nose. “But yeah, you’re a bit distracting. Can’t keep my eyes off you in that dress.”

“Don’t blame me if you burn the food.” Weiss pulled her down to kiss her again. Sometimes, when they couldn’t see each other for a couple of days, she felt like she’d go insane without the touch of her soft lips against hers.

Emerald pulled away way too soon. “Right now you’re not really giving me a reason not to. Maybe except those pretty eyes. Or how cute you look when you’re blushing like that.”  

“I’m not blushing.” She looked away and Emerald laughed, softly kissed her temple.

“Totally not.”

It probably took them way longer than usually to prepare dinner. They went to Emerald’s room afterwards and when Weiss laid down on the bed she just felt full, cosy and tired.

“You look like you’re going to fall asleep any minute.”

“I’m fully awake.”

“Sure you are.” Emerald laid down next to her and pulled her into her arms. Somehow she always ended up to be the big spoon when they laid down together like that, but at night it was often Weiss who wrapped her arms around her and buried her face in her soft hair.

When Weiss couldn’t keep her eyes open anymore she knew they wouldn’t have sex today. It felt weird. For a moment she didn’t know what she was even doing here then, but falling asleep in Emerald’s arms felt nothing but right.


	21. Chapter 21

It took Yang three days until she called, asking if she could drop Rose off for a night because she wanted to go out with Blake. He wanted to pretend he hadn’t waited for her call, but he seemed to get worse at lying to himself.

Rose stormed into the apartment as soon as he opened the door and Grimm came out of her room to greet her, waving his tail and licking her face.

“Rose, take your shoes off”, Yang said. He couldn’t keep his eyes off her tight red dress, the red lipstick and he caught the scent of a perfume he didn’t recognise but wouldn’t mind to get to know better. She was wearing her blonde curls in a lazy bun, the only thing he didn’t adore about her outfit. 

“The dog refuses to sleep anywhere else but in her bed”, he said. “Not my fault if she gets asthma or anything.”

“I think she can take it, she always takes my dad’s dog and carries him into her bed like a plushie at night.”

He turned around because there was no other way he would stop staring at her. “Em’s in her room”, he said to Rose. “Why don’t you go and pick some pizza from the menu with her?”

“Oh yes!”

“But take your shoes off!”, Yang said.

Rose took her shoes off in the middle of the room, leaving them there before she went to Emerald’s room, Grimm following her.

“Call me when something goes wrong”, Yang said.

Now he had to look at her again. She was still standing in the doorway, way too close for him not to stare at her lips. “Sure”, he said.

“I packed everything you need.” She fumbled around with her hair. “So…”

“Yeah.” He didn’t really know what to say. He didn’t want her to leave. She looked at him until she took a deep breath and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, pulled him down and kissed him. His heart was pounding way too fast. The kiss was warm, way too short and tasted sweet.

“So we’re doing that now?”, he asked.

She shrugged, stroking his lips with her fingers. “I guess. Also you got lipstick on your lips.”

“I blame you.”

“I can stop if you want me to.”

“Don’t.”

She chuckled and he kissed her again. The only thing that made him pull away was the sound of footsteps in the apartment behind him. He turned around, but Rose and Emerald were somewhere else, not in sight. He looked at Yang again.

“I should go, I’m late already.” She ran her hand through his hair and he was so close to just carry her to his room. “Is my lipstick smudged?”

“Looks alright.” He stroked her cheek and then undid her bun, ran his hands through her curls. “Looks better that way.”

“Sure? I always thought-“

“Yes, sure.”

She looked at him and squeezed his hand for a moment. “So… see you?”

“Yeah.” He really didn’t want to let her go. “Have fun.”

 “I will.” She smiled, hesitated, but then she turned around and left. He stared at her as she walked down the hallway.

He closed the door behind him and rubbed his mouth with his hand, walking into the bathroom to check in the mirror if any trace of her lipstick was left before he went to the living room. He could still feel her kiss on his lips.

“Merc!”, Ruby yelled as soon as she saw him. “Why can’t Grimm eat pizza?”

“Because he doesn’t like pizza”, he said.

“How does someone not like pizza?” Rose seemed genuinely shook.

“Em doesn’t like dating men and we still like her.”

Emerald rolled her eyes. “Did you just use my sexuality as a metaphor to explain to your daughter that she should accept her dog not eating pizza?”

“Yes.” He sat down on the couch next to her.

“It’s okay”, Rose said. “I know what gay is, I get what he means. I have to accept Grimm’s just different.”

“I can’t believe it’s working.” Emerald sighed and leaned back. “When I was a child it was the other way around.”

“Anyway, did you pick anything?”

“We did”, she said while Rose climbed on the couch to sit between them. “But what do you want?”

“Peperoni.” He tried not to think of Yang, but his heart was still pounding fast in his chest. Grimm sat down in front of them and rested his head on Rose’s lap so she could pet him. Maybe something about that dog was adorable after all.

“I’ll go and order the pizza, pick a movie in the meantime.” Emerald got up and he was glad for once she hadn’t noticed anything. If she had she would have let him know by now.

“I want to watch Brave”, Rose said. He didn’t know which movie that was, but he had an idea he had seen it a couple of times before.

“Sure”, he said. Rose was still petting Grimm and he wondered if this kiss had actually meant anything. Maybe Yang was now at a bar, meeting the love of her life. The thought made him sick. But maybe it meant they would actually get back together again. Get together for the first time. He didn’t know if it was a good idea, he just knew that he wouldn’t be able to stop thinking about her for a long time.


	22. Chapter 22

“I never liked Sage”, Yang said. “You can do better.”

“I know.” Blake sighed. “I should have broken up with him a while ago, but it was just… I don’t know. I need another drink.”

“I’ll get you one”, Pyrrha said and got up. “Anything for you, Yang?”

“Strawberry sunrise.”

“Sex on the beach for me”, Blake said.

“Oh, wait for the first date for that.” Yang winked at her and at least it made Blake laugh.

 “Are you just glad we broke up?”, Blake asked when Pyrrha made her way to the bar. “You’re basically beaming, I haven’t seen you that happy in a while.”

“Oh, no. It’s not that. I would never be that happy about some guy breaking your heart.”

“Okay, what happened then?”

Yang shook her head. She couldn’t tell Blake. Not that she didn’t trust her with this, but telling her she had finally kissed Mercury while she was going through a breakup? No, bad idea. “I’m just… happy. I have a beautiful daughter and we’re finally going out again. We’re all single, so why don’t we get ourselves three pretty men or women to take home tonight?”

“Yes.” Blake sat straight up. “I want to get laid tonight. And drunk.”

“Well, we’re working on the second part already”, Yang said when Pyrrha came back with their drinks. She knew Blake well enough to see she was on her way to get totally wasted. While she was just on her second drink for the night Blake and Pyrrha had had at least one more, not counting the shots the pretty waitress had brought them while Yang had been outside, checking her phone to see if Mercury had texted. About Rose, of course, just about Rose.

“I got us shots”, Pyrrha said. “Actually the bartender got them for me when I smiled at him.” She blushed as if she had done something extremely dirty.

“Then let’s get drunk.” Blake took one of the glasses and downed it all at once. Pyrrha followed and coughed, not used to the hard alcohol. Yang passed Blake her glass. Apparently one of them had to stay sober enough to get them home safely tonight.

 “I’ll go to the restroom real quick”, Yang said and got up. “Don’t disappear with some guy while I’m gone.”

“Can’t promise anything”, Blake said, sipping on her drink.

The truth was that she had just wanted to check her phone. No new messages. She sighed and blamed the alcohol when she typed. _Everything alright with Rose?_ She sent it to Mercury and had to bite her lip to supress a groan. God, she had been stupid to deny she was still into him. Even six years ago she hadn’t just slept with anyone.

She checked her lipstick in the bathroom mirror. It looked surprisingly good, taking into consideration she had kissed Mercury and had a couple of drinks. She reapplied it, ran her hand through her curls and thought about Mercury doing that. No, stop. She had to make it through this evening without getting overly frustrated over him not being here.

She came back to the view of Pyrrha and Blake making out, something that surprised even her. Heavily making out. Something that would have made even her uncomfortable to watch if she had been sober. She sat down next to them without them noticing, sipped on her drink and took a couple of pictures with Blake’s phone, something to prove this had actually happened tomorrow morning. She couldn’t help but to think about way to get Mercury here right now. Maybe she could get Blake and Pyrrha home safely and then go to his place, but Rose was there and it wasn’t unlikely she would sneak into his bedroom if she had a nightmare. Also Yang had never been the one to keep quiet. No, she wouldn’t make her go through that, also she didn’t want to get her hopes of them actually permanently getting back together up.

Yang put Blake’s and Pyrrha’s phones into their bags without them noticing (but honestly, she had never expected Pyrrha to pull Blake closer like that) and got up.

It didn’t take long for a guy to approach her at the bar. “Hey, gorgeous”, he said. “Alone here?”

“My friends are making out”, she said. He was handsome, fluffy brown curls and a smile that could sell insurances or toothpaste. There was nothing wrong with him, but when she thought about letting him buy her a drink, making out in a corner and taking him home, everything she could think about was that then Mercury wouldn’t be the last person she had kissed. “But I have a boyfriend. And a child.”

So she waited at the bar alone, checked her phone again and again until Mercury finally texted back. _She’s asleep. Already got yourself a hot date?_

She blushed. What if he knew she had just skipped on the hot date because of him? Did he even see her that way? Did he date other women? She downed the rest of her drink before she replied. _I am the hot date. Hard to find anyone who can keep up with me._ She knew it was stupid as soon as she sent it.

The reply was fast, simple, and it made her blush even more. _True_. Just one word. She grinned.

She gave Blake and Pyrrha an hour before she came back. They were still making out, of course they were, and the hickey on Pyrrha’s neck was very prominent. “Girls”, Yang said. “Let’s go somewhere more private.”

Blake looked at Yang. She was obviously hopelessly drunk. “You’re back already.”

Yang rolled her eyes. “Yes, and we’re leaving.”

“I don’t want to leave.” Pyrrha giggled and pulled Blake into another kiss.

“But what if I got you two somewhere where you can undress her?”

Pyrrha looked at her again, blushed. “Oh, but that’s…”

“Sounds like a good idea”, Blake said.

“Meet me outside in a minute, I’ll call a cab.”

Of course they took ten minutes to make it outside, giggling, hugging, and making out again as they stood there and waited for the cab. Yang rolled her eyes when the cab finally arrived and the three of them climbed on the backseat. She told the driver their address while Pyrrha squeaked because Blake had begun to nibble on her earlobe.

“I want to have drunk sex with you”, Pyrrha whispered loud enough for everyone in the car to hear. “But I don’t want anyone to know.”

Yang had to try really hard not to bang her head against the car window. She would never let them hear the end of this. Blake telling Pyrrha in detail what she was going to do to her didn’t help with Yang’s frustration, only the driver seemed to enjoy the ride. Yang didn’t tip when they finally made it home. He didn’t complain.


	23. Chapter 23

He woke up with the deeply unsettling feeling of not being able to move his legs. For a horrible moment he was sure his prosthetics had stopped working, but then again – both at once? Unlikely.

When he finally managed to open his eyes he saw Grimm lying on his legs, sleeping peacefully. Rose was lying next to him, cuddling the little black cat she couldn’t sleep without. He sighed and tried to get Grimm to leave without waking Rose up and eventually managed to free his legs, the dog didn’t move an inch. Mercury groaned. He actually liked having a bit of space in his own bed. It was almost dawn, still way too early to get up.

“I had a nightmare”, Rose whispered next to him. He turned his head. “Can I sleep here?”

Well, technically she already did. “Sure”, he said and tried to shove that stupid dog on the other side of the bed.

“It was a bad nightmare.” She sounded scared.

He laid down next to her and just laid his legs on top of the dog, he didn’t seem to bother. “What was it about?”

“Mummy died.”

He sighed. So one of those nightmares. He looked at her. She was still clinging to her plushie as if her life depended on it. Grimm began to move, starting to lick Rose’s bare feet. “She’s fine.”

“How do you know that?”

“She texted me she got home safe.” She hadn’t, but he had no doubt she was alright. “Come on, get under the blanket.”

She crawled under the blanket and the cuddled up to him. He hesitated, but then wrapped his arms around her. “I don’t always have nightmares”, she said.

“Hey, it’s okay to have a nightmare. Happens to me, too.”

“What are your nightmares about?”

He fell silent for a moment. That was barely child appropriate. “Monsters”, he finally said. “Under my bed.”

“But now Grimm is here to protect you.”

“That’s why I always feel better when I wake up.”

“You know, I don’t only have nightmares when I sleep here.” Rose curled up next to him, still shaking. “Mummy said I can’t stay overnight when I have nightmares here but it’s not about that.”

“Yeah, I know.” He stroked her back to calm her down. “She probably just doesn’t want you to sleep here if it makes you feel bad.”

“But it doesn’t.”

“Then you can keep staying overnight. Try to sleep now.”

“Okay”, she whispered. “Good night.”

He kept stroking her back until she had stopped shaking and he was sure she had fallen asleep.

 

* * *

 

Emerald was opening the door and Yang tried not to be disappointed. She had spent the morning trying not to think about Mercury, but still dying to see him again. She definitely had a problem. “Rose is still eating breakfast”, Emerald said.

“Oh, it’s alright, I’m not in a hurry.”

“Want some coffee?”

“Sure.” Yang left her bag by the door and followed Emerald into the kitchen. Rose was sitting at the kitchen table, eating cereals with Grimm watching her from the corner of the room.

“Do I have to leave already?” Rose looked like she was about to throw a tantrum again. Please not with that hangover.

“Eat up first.” She sat down next to her. “Did you have a good time?”

“We had pizza and watched Brave. Grimm slept in my bed and let me cuddle him when I slept.”

“That dog won’t leave her side”, Emerald said. She got Yang a cup of coffee before she sat down as well. “Merc is still showering, he’ll be here in a minute.”

Yang had to stop herself from looking away. Did Emerald know anything? But then again, he was Rose’s father and technically the person she should want to talk to, it was only logical she’d wonder where he was. Had Mercury told Emerald anything? They seemed to be very close. “Rose always wanted to have a pet”, Yang said.

“Merc said he’s technically my dog”, Rose said. “And when I’m old enough he has to live with me.” She didn’t seem like she was complaining at all.

“He sleeps in her room”, Mercury said suddenly behind her. She grabbed her cup just to have something to do with her hands. “We can’t bring him to sleep anywhere else. But we put the pillows and blankets away and a blanket on the bed so it’s not full of dog hair.” He walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge, took the milk out.

Also he was only wearing jeans. Yeah, now she definitely knew why she had slept with him six years ago.

She had to force herself to look away from his upper body. Damn, he definitely hadn’t stopped working out. His hair was still wet and she hoped she wasn’t blushing. “Morning”, she said and quickly took a sip of her coffee to have an excuse not to say more.

“I already fed the dog”, Emerald said.

“I helped her.” Rose ate the last spoon of her cereals. “Can we go and see Blake now?”

Blake was probably still in bed, probably still being cuddled by a very naked and very asleep Pyrrha, just as she had found them when Yang had brought her water and painkillers. “Blake had a long night, I guess she’ll need a lot of rest. Are you still hungry?”

“No.” Rose got up to sit down next to Grimm and let him lick her hands clean.

“You still need to wash them”, Emerald said.

“I know.” Rose rolled her eyes, but she got up and went to the bathroom.

“Did she sleep through the night?”, Yang asked.

“Crawled into my bed in the morning.” Mercury sat down, leaned back and sipped on his coffee. “Which wouldn’t be a problem if she didn’t bring that dog with her wherever she goes.”

“You let the beast sleep in your bed?” Emerald laughed. “You’re getting weak.”

“I was too tired to throw him out while a scared child was cuddling me.”

“She always gets those nightmares, I don’t know where it’s coming from. Maybe I shouldn’t have let her watch those movies, but other children watch them as well, you know?” Yang sighed. “She just has a vivid imagination.”

“She’ll be fine”, Mercury said. “She’s a pampered child and the worst thing that has ever happened to her was her mum breaking up with her boyfriend.” It almost sounded like an insult, but she knew it was rather meant to be a compliment.

“I washed my hands”, Rose yelled when she came back to the kitchen. “Can we go now? And can I come back soon? Grimm will miss me when I don’t come back soon.”

“Yeah, sure.” Yang got up. She knew Mercury was staring at her, but she couldn’t look at him. She would only be frustrated for at least a week. “I’ll call you. See you around then.” She smiled, looked him in the eyes for a moment and already felt her heart beating faster.

“I didn’t have a nightmare”, Rose said when they left the apartment.

“Rose, it’s okay to have nightmares. I will still let you sleep here.”

Rose looked at her carefully. “Really?”

“As long as you feel safe.” Yang ruffled her hair. “I just don’t want you to wake up alone and scared.”

Rose fell silent for a moment, staring down and clearly lost in her thoughts. “Merc let me sleep in his bed”, she said eventually. “But I wasn’t sure if he’d tell me to go back into my bed. I know Emmy wouldn’t, but I didn’t want her to be scared as well. Merc is never scared of anything.”

“I’m sure he wouldn’t do that. He really loves you.”

Rose looked up to her as they went outside. “Does he?”

“Yes. Of course.” She knew it was true. She knew Mercury well enough.

 

* * *

 

Blake was already awake when they got home, sitting on the couch, looking like she was about to die. “I’m a bit ill”, she said when Rose hugged her. “How was your sleepover?”

“We had so much fun.” Rose patted Blake’s forehead. “Do you have a cold?”

“Something like that.”

Yang chuckled. “Took the painkillers?”

“Yeah. Then showered. God, I didn’t sleep much last night.”

“I can imagine you didn’t.” They hadn’t exactly been quiet.

Rose was the first to spot her. She shouted “Pyrrha!” as joyfully as only she could and ran towards her, hugged her legs tightly. “I didn’t know you’d be here.”

Pyrrha blushed, staring at Blake, then Rose. She was wearing one of Blake’s sweaters and leggings that barely reached her ankles. “Yeah, that… it’s a surprise.”

“I love surprises.”

“I know you do.” Pyrrha sounded even worse than Blake. She didn’t dare to look at Yang. “Thank you for letting me stay for the night”, she said as if Yang didn’t know exactly what had happened last night. What, how long and how often.

“You can always stay here”, Yang said. “Do you want a cup of coffee?”

“No, I actually have to leave already. Oh no, Rose, don’t be sad. I can come back soon.” She stroked her head. “I promise.”

“Can you go to the zoo with me?”

“Yeah, sure.” Pyrrha smiled even though Yang could feel her pain. “I promise.”

“Okay. Please don’t get ill like Blake.”

“I’ll try.”

Rose let go off Pyrrha’s legs. Pyrrha looked at Blake, then blushed and looked away. “Thank you again. I’ll… call you.”

“Get home safely”, Blake said.

“See you soon.” Yang smiled at her, even though Pyrrha still avoided looking into her direction.

“Rose, why don’t you look if there’s a book you want to read before your nap today?”, Yang said.

“Do I have to nap already?”

“No, you still got a lot of time, but you can pick it already.”

“Okay.” Rose ran to her room. Sometimes it was as easy as that.

“Oh my god”, Blake groaned as soon as Rose had left the room. “Get home safe? What was I thinking?”

“How was it?” Yang sat down next to Blake and lowered her voice so there was no way Rose could hear her. 

“Last night? God, you have no idea. I never knew she’s that… hot. But she is. And god, she said she had never done that with another woman but if it wasn’t Pyrrha we’re talking about here I’d be absolutely sure that was a lie. But this morning? I will never sleep with a friend again. It was so damn awkward. She barely looked at me and… god. But why did I never look at her that way, she’s damn hot!”

“Oh god, Blake.” Yang laughed and laid down next to her on the couch. “At least you got over that breakup pretty fast.”

“And now I got myself into this situation, this is… you know, what if I just ruined a friendship for a one night stand?”

“It’s going to be alright. Now that she had you she won’t get enough of you.”

“Or she’ll never look me in the eyes again. It’s not… Yang, this is not just some casual affair or post breakup sex. I _care_ about Pyrrha. And since when does she even do something like that? What if I pressured her to sleep with me? Did I pressure her?”

“You didn’t. You’ll figure this out. Stop worrying that much. I mean maybe you’ll have a girlfriend tomorrow.”

“Or I’ve lost a friend.”

“Do you want to know why I’m more screwed than you?”

“Did you finally screw Mercury?”

Yang pinched her. “I kissed him, okay?”

“God, Yang. I’m so not surprised. You’ve been head over heels for him six years ago, you probably still are.”

“I just… no. I don’t know. I have no idea where this is going and I want to go safe and this whole thing to work out because of Rose, but… I mean have you seen him? He’s hot, charming, and…”

“You’re crushing so hard on him, again. This time please think about protection. I love Rose, but you were horrible when you were pregnant.”

“I guess that’s just fair.” She sighed. “Oh, Blake. We’re so screwed.”

“Well, I am. You still have to work on that.”


	24. Chapter 24

“I won’t complain about Mercury ever again if it just leads to us having breakfast in bed.” Weiss took the last bite of her croissant and leaned against Emerald.

“Oh, I will still complain about him.”

“You’re…” Weiss searched for the right words for a moment. “I mean you seem very close.”

Emerald shrugged. “I don’t know. Yeah, probably.”

“Come on.”

“Yeah, okay, we are. But that just kinda happens when you’re stuck with someone.”

“How were you stuck with each other? You’re not related, are you?”

“No, not really.” She sighed and leaned back. Weiss rested her head on her stomach, closing her eyes and concentrating on the soft fingers that were now running through her hair. “We met when we both didn’t have anyone. He had a scholarship, I had debts, and we were the only people in college without rich parents. I didn’t like him, then I got used to him hanging out with me, then… I don’t know. Maybe that’s what it’s like to have a brother, someone you’re stuck with without having a choice, but he’s also stuck with you so you can do whatever you want, he won’t just leave.”

She probably had no idea how cute it sounded. Weiss reached for the small bit of skin between Emerald’s shorts and her shirt, softly kissed it. “What happened to your parents?”

“I don’t know.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean I don’t know. Left my home and never came back so who knows what my mother is doing right now, if she’s still alive or not. Never met my father.”

“Me too.” She closed her eyes to breathe in Emerald’s scent. “I mean I l left home. My father had clear expectations as to what my life should look like. So one day I decided I wanted something else and left. I never talked to my parents again. I live with my sister and… I don’t know, I think that’s enough.”

“It has to be enough. I mean you can’t go back.”

“Yeah, true.”

Emerald’s softly tickled Weiss’ neck. “Or do you want to be anywhere else right now?”

“No.” She closed her eyes. She honestly didn’t. This cosy bed, Emerald’s warmth, her soft touches… it was more than she had ever hoped to have. She just hoped it wouldn’t end too soon. “I love this.”

Emerald chuckled. “Sometimes you’re just so adorable.”

 

* * *

 

Emerald probably thought she was subtle about Weiss coming over at least twice a week. Well, she wasn’t. Mercury could hear them every time and he recognised Weiss’ voice quite well now. They had been waking up early again this morning, then he had listened to them rolling through the bed sheets for at least an hour before they got quiet again and now giggled on their way through the flat.

He absolutely had enough.

He had thought about recording the sound of Weiss when she was coming and use it as his new ringtone, but Emerald probably would have cut his throat. So he just got up and followed Weiss and Emerald. They hadn’t made it very far, were still making out by the front door as if they wanted to start going again right there right then. He leaned against the wall and watched them for a minute, Emerald still in the pyjama she obviously hadn’t been wearing much that night, Weiss in a blue dress, Emerald working on messing up her hair again.

“Want some coffee?”, he asked casually.

The jumped apart. Weiss’ face got so read he almost got worried about her whereas Emerald looked like she was about to kill him. “Mercury, what on earth…” She shook her head.

“I live here.” He shrugged. “And you always complain when I only make coffee for myself.”

“Just get into the damn kitchen and make the coffee, asshole.”

“You want some coffee as well, Weiss?”

“I… no, thank you, but I have to leave soon.” She was still polite, even though she looked like she was about to faint.

“Alright, see you.” He went to the kitchen and smirked. He could hear them talking, but not understand what they were saying. Probably regretting everything. Hopefully not breaking up, Emerald’s mood would be horrible for weeks.

Finally the front door got opened and closed again. Emerald walked into the kitchen and sat down, buried her face in her hands. “You never walk in on my dates”, she said. “You never do that. You always pretend you’re not there. Why on earth did you have to do that today?”

“I knew it was her for weeks, Emerald.” He got her her coffee and sat down next to her. “Come on, you haven’t been very subtle. I just wanted you to stop making all this fuzz about keeping it a secret.”

“You’re… how did you know?”

“Her voice is unrecognisable. Also you usually tell me everything and with her you kept quiet.”

“I thought you’d know immediately if I made some details up to cover up it’s her.” She shook her head and sipped on her coffee. “If she never wants to see me again because of you I will make you suffer.”

“By the sounds she made… she’ll definitely come back.”

“Oh, I hate you.”

“You love me, you know it.” His phone buzzed. He only opened the message because it was from Yang. _Rose is with her grandfather tonight, do you want to come over?_

“I will totally blame you for anything that goes wrong with this relationship from now on.”

Yang’s message almost made him miss out on this detail. “Relationship?”

“I meant affair”, she quickly said.

He raised his eyebrows. Looked at his phone again. This could be a terrible idea. But he didn’t care. _I’ll be there at eight_ , he typed and pressed Send before he could change his mind. “You don’t do affairs. You do one night stands or relationships with women that clearly aren’t good for you.” He looked at her. This was actually getting serious. “You like her?”

She groaned. “Come on, don’t be like that.”

“You’re really into her, aren’t you?”

“I hate you.” She looked away. He smirked and nudged her with his elbow. She shook her head.

“I never thought I’d actually witness you getting a girlfriend.”

“She’s not-“

“Come on, she’s pretty. And she’s not as much of an asshole as the others. Actual girlfriend material this time instead of ‘I don’t want you to live with a guy just in case you change your mind over being gay’ or ‘if you don’t get the right cornflakes I will ignore you for three weeks’.”

She looked away. “I don’t even know if… I guess it’s just a way for her to finally have sex with another woman. She’s not really doing casual sex and she wasn’t a virgin, but quite… nervous. It makes sense for her to stick with me. She’s just- hey, stop!”

He hugged her anyway, pulled her close until she leaned her head against his shoulder. “She’s into you. She’s not very subtle about how she feels towards people.”

“Do you think so?”

“I know it. Stop telling yourself this won’t work out so you don’t have to ask her to date you officially.”

“What if I don’t want that?”

“You’re basically dating already. The only difference is that you hit me every time I call her your girlfriend.”

“I didn’t-“

“You totally will.”

She sighed. “You’re not even able to get your own dating life into order, stop trying to give me advice on mine. You know, whoever gets to make this official first doesn’t have to do any chores for a week, deal?”

“Deal.” He already settled with the thought of doing her chorse for that week. 


	25. Chapter 25

She didn’t want to be that nervous. She still was. Blake was out on a date with Pyrrha, finally, Rose was with Tai, so she had the flat for herself.

She decided to put effort into it without letting him notice. She was wearing a loose shirt that showed a good part of her cleavage, shorts and her hair open because she knew he liked that.

He was late. She paced up and down the living room, ran her hand through her hair. Hell, she had actually done this. Had invited him for sex. Actually not just for sex, rather because she had really wanted to see him, but she wasn’t stupid. Of course she had known how this evening would inevitably end with him and her alone in her apartment. She threw herself on the couch and groaned. What if he didn’t want her?

The doorbell rang and she almost didn’t open. When she did he was standing in front of her, smirking and so handsome it should have been illegal.

“Hey”, he said.

“Hey.” She looked away before she could blush. “Come inside.”

“Blake’s out?”

“She has a date.” Yang closed the door behind him, unsure what to do. It had been a while since she had done this sober. “Do you want anything to drink?”

He shook his head, looked at her. She could feel his gaze wander over her body and it was exactly what she had wanted, but it also made her nervous. They both knew what they were in for, didn’t they? He had agreed on coming here tonight and he wasn’t stupid. He had let her kiss him. Damn, it wasn’t even their first time.

“Let’s go to the living room”, she said.

They sat down on the couch next to each other and she had to stop herself from awkwardly fumbling around with her clothes. “How’s the dog?”, she asked.

“He ate one of Em’s shoes yesterday.” He was still looking at her, smirking like the smug asshole he was sometimes.

“Did I keep you from doing anything important tonight?”

He was just sitting there, not doing anything, not moving closer, and it was driving her insane. “Trying to avoid listening to Em and her date having sex all night long”, he said.

“Sounds lovely. Well, tonight no one is here who could bother”, she said to give him a hint.

“Yeah.” He smirked, looked at her. “Convenient, isn’t it?” He was still not moving an inch towards her.

“It is. Blake might not come home at all.”

“Oh, she won’t?”

“No. So… we can be loud all night long.” She tried to sound seductive, but it only made him chuckle.

“And what do you want to do all night long?” He was not breaking eye contact and she wasn’t sure if he had just come to mock her.

Now she was definitely losing her patience. She got up. “Well, I don’t know what you’ll do”, she said. “But I’ll go to the bedroom and somehow get off.”

She didn’t make it very far before he had reached her and finally made a move. He wrapped his arms around her and lifted her off the ground. “Somehow?” She could feel his breath on her neck.

“Maybe I’ll let you watch.”

He laughed. “Which room?”

“Last one on the right.”

He carried her all the way inside, closed the door behind them. So they were really doing this. Her heart was pounding fast and she grinned when she finally turned around and looked at him. He didn’t look as smug anymore, rather determined and warm. “So I get to watch?”, he asked.

“Or help if you want to?” His arms were still wrapped around her waist. She smiled and stroked his cheek.

His kiss was impatient, passionate, and it caught her off guard. She sighed and leaned against him as his hands wandered under her shirt. Kissing him was still different than kissing anyone else. It felt more real, felt like she was suddenly at ease and on edge at the same time, and it awoke a warmth inside of her she remembered just too well. Something that had frightened her at times, that had pushed her to run away before it could consume her.

There was no way she’d be able to run away now.

She pulled him towards the bed and caught her breath when he eventually broke the kiss. She sat down on the bed, crawled backwards and he followed her, ran his finger through her hair. His lips on her neck were surprisingly soft. They had done this before, but she felt like he was claiming every inch of her body once again when he finally took her shirt off.

In six years no one had quite been like him.

 

* * *

 

“You have to get dressed”, she mumbled.

“Are you throwing me out?”

“No.” She sighed and kissed his collarbone again. “But with a child in the house… I just got used not to sleep naked.”

“Alright, alright.” He sighed and kissed her forehead before he sat up. She immediately felt the need to pull him closer again.

She got up and got herself a big shirt and underwear from the cupboard, watching him as he got into his underwear again and put his shirt back on. “Not saying naked doesn’t suit you”, she said and crawled back under the blanket.

“I know.” He smirked and laid down next to her, wrapping his arms around her immediately. She smiled.

“Sometimes you’re horribly confident in yourself”, she said and leaned her head against his chest again.

“You’re adorable.”

She blushed. It was weird to hear something like that from him. “Am I?”

He didn’t answer, just pulled her closer and kissed her. His kisses were different when they had had sex, not as demanding, just warm. She only now remembered that as she melted into the kiss. Most of the tiny little details only came back to her now that she was with him again. “Yes”, he said eventually.

“Are you tired?”

“A bit.”

She smiled and kissed the corner of his mouth. She wasn’t, but she probably wouldn’t have gotten up if he had been asleep already, just so she didn’t have to leave him. “Are you hungry? I can-“

“Yang.” He pulled her closer. “You’re such a mum”, he mumbled.

“Oh, come on, I’m not-”

He laughed and his lips on her neck made her forget what she had wanted to say for a moment. “See, that’s what I meant. Adorable.” He kissed her neck, her cheek, her lips. “Do you want to get up?”

“No, we don’t have to.”

“But we could if you wanted to, just tell me before I get really tired.”

“No, let’s sleep.” Now that she had him she didn’t want to let go. They still had time for everything else, it wasn’t like she’d have to ditch him way too soon again. Maybe they could really become a thing this time. They had to be careful with Rose, but this time it wasn’t like they would have to build a solid relationship while also having to figure out how to be parents. They had all the time they needed. “Don’t just leave without saying goodbye tomorrow.”

“When did I ever do that?” One of his hands ran through her hair, the other one sneaked under her shirt and rested on her bare back. It was somehow comforting to feel his bare skin against hers.

“Only because I always stayed at your place. Actually this is the first time we ended up in my bed. Just trying to prevent sneaking out from becoming a habit.”

“Technically you still owe me coffee and breakfast.”

“I’ll make you breakfast in the morning.” She closed her eyes. The thought seemed so domestic, so comforting, she just wanted to fall asleep to wake up again. But she also didn’t want to leave this bed, wanted to stay right here with him, his fingers entangled with her hair, his hand resting on her bare back, his cold prosthetic against her bare thighs and not worrying about hers touching him.

Yes, maybe they could really become a thing.


	26. Chapter 26

It was probably the hottest night of the year. Weiss was lying on her bed, wearing nothing but a loose top and underwear, windows wide open. She still couldn’t sleep.

Her phone buzzed and she almost ignored it. Almost. When she saw Emerald’s number on the screen she picked up immediately. “Hello?” She tried to sound casual.

“Hey.” Weiss knew something was wrong immediately. Her voice sounded… off. Lacked her usual sarcastic undertone, something that only ever happened when they had already spent some time together and Emerald’s voice and touches grew so soft they almost burned through her skin. “What are you doing?”

“Nothing. I tried to sleep but it’s too hot.”

“Do you want to… can you come over?” Her voice was shaking.

“Are you alright?” She got up, already opening her wardrobe.

“Yeah, sure. I just… I don’t know, I thought it would be nice to see you. Mercury’s not home.”

“Is he with Yang?”

“You can bet your ass on that, do you think I’d let him screw any other girl while those two can’t keep their eyes off each other?”

“Oh, finally.” She took a light summer dress from the wardrobe, some clothes to wear tomorrow. “I’ll call a cab and be there as fast as I can.”

“Yeah, so… see you.”

“Probably won’t be more than fifteen minutes.”

It took her twenty, but only because the cab was late. The apartment was dark when Emerald finally opened the door. Weiss could still see that Emerald had cried. “The heat is killing me”, she said because she didn’t know what else to say. Emerald closed the door behind her and Weiss reached for her hand, squeezed it before she finally dared to place a soft kiss on her lips.

“Me too.” She seemed a bit hesitant when she laid her hands on Weiss’ hip. She was never hesitant about anything.

“Let’s just go to your room and try to sleep.” She kissed her again. “I need to get out of this dress.”

“It looks cute on you.” Emerald looked at her for a moment, then turned away. “Come on.”

Weiss put on one of Emerald’s loose tops. It wouldn’t have been a problem to bring her own pyjama, but there was always something comforting about wearing her clothes. “I feel like I’m being baked”, Weiss said and laid down next to Emerald. It was too hot to cuddle so they just laid a hand on each other’s hip, looking at each other and Weiss felt like this was the face she wanted to look at until forever. 

“Are you okay?”, she whispered.

“Yeah, I’m… don’t worry.”

“But I do worry. I do care. Just tell me how I can help you.”

Emerald leaned forward and softly kissed her lips, her forehead. “You’re here.” She laid down on her back, staring at the ceiling. “It’s… sometimes it all comes back. I’m alright. Usually I have Mercury. I just… didn’t want to be alone tonight.”

“When I had nightmares I always woke up my sister.” Weiss moved closer and laid an arm across Emerald’s stomach. “Now I just wake up and try to distract myself until morning.”

“You know, I’m not a bitch, Weiss.” Emerald softly stroked her cheek. “I’d do the same. Call me and I’ll come over.”

Weiss couldn’t help but to feel warmth rushing through her. It was the first time they had mentioned something like that at all, something about their relationship. About being there for each other. It had always just been a thing of Weiss not being sure whether she was getting on her nerves or not. It was ridiculous, she knew that. They met up whenever they could, texted about Weiss going shopping with Ruby and sometimes Emerald called her just because she was bored. The real problem was that Weiss didn’t know how to call it. A casual affair? No, they were far beyond that. Friends with benefits? Didn’t seem right. A relationship? But they hadn’t called it that yet.

“Thank you”, she whispered.

“No, thank you.”

“It’s not like…” Weiss took a deep breath. She couldn’t help but to feel nervous. “I don’t hate being around you”, she carefully said.

Emerald chuckled. “I don’t hate being around you either.” She softly kissed her. “Do you want to sleep now?”

“Yes. But don’t be mad if I don’t touch you, it’s so hot right now.”

“Don’t be mad if I take my clothes off.”

“I never am.”

They both laughed and laid down so far away from each other it was agonising. Weiss closed her eyes. But still, Emerald being there was comforting. Knowing she was there and that if she wanted she could just roll around and touch her, without being afraid of her throwing her out, without being afraid she wouldn’t want it. For a moment Weiss felt nothing but lucky.  


	27. Chapter 27

He woke up before she did. Her head was resting on his chest, his face was full of hair and his arm numb, but something about it was so comforting he didn’t dare to move. As if it could just slip away as soon as he did and she’d be gone again.

He closed his eyes, tried to shift a little so he would at least feel his arm again. She gripped his shirt with her real hand in her sleep as if she was trying to stop him from leaving. He smiled and was almost ashamed of how warm it made him feel. Damn, she was making him weak.

Someone walked through the apartment and slammed a door. Yang flinched next to him before she started to move. He looked at her and she yawned, buried her face in his chest. “Is it just Blake?”

“How would I know?” He ran his fingers through her hair.

“I don’t know. I want to know if she brought her date home last night, but I also don’t want to get up.”

“You can just yell for help if you really want to know.”

“Blake would probably beat you up and throw you out of the window.” She pulled herself up on her forearms and looked at him, smirked. “I don’t want to risk that just yet, some parts of you are still quite… useful.”

“Work on your dirty talk, Xiao Long.” He chuckled and then quickly pulled her down to kiss her.

“That wasn’t even the beginning of my dirty talk.” She kissed him again before she sat up. “Do you want to shower first?”

“Well, how big is your shower?”

She smirked and even though the curtains were closed and the room was dark he was pretty sure she was blushing. “Big enough.”

 

* * *

 

Yang was still drying her hair when he was already dressed. He pressed one last kiss on her shoulder that made her chuckle before he left the bathroom.

Blake had brought her date home. A tall redhead was standing in front of the coffee machine. “Oh, hello.” She blushed when she saw him. “I… I’m Pyrrha, a friend of Yang and Blake. We were going out last night and it got late, so I slept here.” That totally didn’t explain the hickeys on her neck. “So you’re Mercury?”

“Yes.” Now he imagined Yang showing everyone pictures of him. Yeah, she had probably done that.

“Coffee?”

“Sure.”

At least she knew were the cups were. He sat down and she brought him the coffee but kept standing, looked at him while she sipped on hers. “Yeah, so… Rose is pretty cute.”

She was so awkward it was almost amusing. “She is.”

Luckily Yang came back to rescue her. She was still only wearing the shirt she had slept in and he couldn’t stop staring at her. Actually he also didn’t really try.

“Pyrrha, I didn’t know you’d be here.” Yang smiled and got herself a cup of coffee. “Have you slept here?”

“It got pretty late last night.” Pyrrha’s face now almost matched the colour of her hair. “We… we’ve been in the area so Blake offered I could sleep here so I wouldn’t have to get a cab which was pretty nice of her.”

“Of course you can sleep here, that’s not even a question.” Yang sat down on Mercury’s lap as if he had occupied the only chair in the kitchen and not one of five. He didn’t complain at all. She leaned with her back against the wall next to him and he laid his hand on her knee, used the opportunity to caress her thigh.

“It’s so nice of you to say that.” Pyrrha didn’t dare to look into her direction. He wasn’t sure if it was a good idea to basically invite everyone to talk about them, but he also knew he wouldn’t stop her. He couldn’t keep his hands off her, now that she finally wasn’t out of reach for once.

As much as Pyrrha seemed to respect their privacy, when Blake entered the kitchen she just stared at them, especially him, probably also his hand, now resting on Yang’s upper thigh. She wasn’t even subtle about it. He wasn’t sure if she’d jump at him any second for laying a hand on her best friend or if she was just surprised to see him here. “Morning”, she said. “You know, next time you two lock yourselves into the bathroom for almost an hour, let me shower first.”

Yang almost choked on her coffee. “Sorry”, she said and blushed.

Blake shrugged and gave Yang a softer look. “Breakfast?”

“I’ve just been waiting for you. How about eggs?”

“I’ll make the eggs.” Blake opened the fridge. “But I don’t think we have bacon.”

“I can take care of the toast”, Pyrrha said, hurrying to move. “Do you have yoghurt?”

“Yeah, we do.”

Yang leaned down and placed a small kiss on his cheek. “They are so head over heels for each other, but Pyrrha wants to keep it a secret”, she whispered. “Look how they avoid looking each other in the eyes.”

“Awkward.” He laughed and Blake turned around to look at them until she continued with the eggs.

“They’d be perfect for each other. I just hope they realise that soon because I can’t pretend I don’t know anything forever.”

“Sounds like this is going to be fun for you.” He waited for Pyrrha to look into their direction before his hand started to wander upwards on her thigh and he kissed her neck. She blushed and quickly looked away.

“You did that on purpose while she was looking at us”, Yang whispered.

“Absolutely.”

“You’re awful.”

“You love it.”

She kissed him and softly bit his lip. “Careful.”

“Eggs are ready”, Blake said and she sounded so pissed he flinched.

“Someone’s frustrated”, he whispered. “Maybe the sex wasn’t that good after all.”

“I’ll talk to her later.”

She got up when Pyrrha and Blake set the table and sat down next to him. She still caressed his upper thigh under the table and if she knew what that was doing to him she was truly evil.

They talked about nothing important during breakfast, work and people Mercury didn’t know. They weren’t even finished yet when the doorbell rang. “I’ll open”, Yang said and got up.

“Probably Rose.” Blake took a look at her phone. “It’s later than I thought it was.”

He could hear her cheerful voice from the hallway and sighed. He had no idea how to react, what to do, how to explain why he was here. He hadn’t really thought about her at all.

“You’re here!”, Rose cheered when she ran into the kitchen, looking at him and Pyrrha and then running towards him, crawling on his lap to hug him. “Mummy didn’t tell me you’d be here.”

“He was just stepping by to bring a sweater Yang forgot at his place”, Blake said quickly. “So we invited him for breakfast.”

“Hey, Blake. Hey Pyrrha.” The man that followed Yang into the kitchen was obviously Yang’s father. Tall, blonde and muscular arms that didn’t make the look he gave him any less threatening. “You must be…” He probably knew exactly who Mercury was.

“Mercury, that’s my dad.” Yang sat down next to him. 

Her dad crossed his arms in front of his chest. “You can call me Mr.-“

“Call him Tai”, Yang said. “Coffee?”

Well, at least he didn’t dare to object. “I won’t stay long, I have to do some errands. Just wanted to drop her off.”

“Did you have a good time with grandpa?” Yang stroked Rose’s head. She was still sitting on Mercury’s lap, now reaching for the strawberries on the table. He pulled the bowl closer to her.

“Yes. Zwei slept in my bed. I told him about Grimm and he’s not jealous.”

“Alright, see you soon then”, Tai said. He shot Mercury a totally subtle and absolutely threatening glare before Rose jumped off his lap to hug him goodbye.

“Come back soon”, she said. “Promise?”

“Yeah, sure.” He picked her up and she giggled. “Promised. Don’t get up, Yang, I know where the door is if it didn’t run away. I’ll call you!”

He let Rose down and this time she settled for Pyrrha’s lap. “What did you do there?”, she asked when Tai had left and pointed at Pyrrha’s neck. Blake and Pyrrha both blushed.

“I… you know how mum always tells you not to run when you carry something? I stumbled and hit myself.”

“Oh, did it hurt?”

“A bit, but it’s okay now.”

“I promised Em to do errands today, I should probably go before it gets too late”, Mercury said. He actually had, but mainly he didn’t know how to keep his hands off Yang. They hadn’t talked about this, but she hadn’t touched him since Rose had come back and he was quite sure he knew why. Rose already wanted them to move in together, rather today than tomorrow. She’d just get her hopes up about something they hadn’t really talked through yet.

“Can I see Grimm again soon?”, Rose asked.

“Sure.” He got up and ruffled her hair. “See you.”

“I’ll take you to the door.” Yang got up. She followed him to the front door and watched him when he put his shoes back on. “You know”, she whispered. “If Rose wasn’t here I’d kiss you now.”

“There are a couple of things I’d do right now if Rose wasn’t here.” He looked at her and buried his hands in the pockets of his pants so he wouldn’t touch her. “Including asking Blake how exactly Pyrrha hit her neck that way. Or trying it out on you.”

“Just leave before I do something stupid.” She grinned and shyly looked away. “I’ll call you. Because of Rose I mean.”

“Just because of her?”

“I’ll text you because of the rest.”

He smirked and opened the front door. Something told him to just pull her closer and kiss her, but she was right. Rose. “See you”, he said instead before he closed the door behind him.

 

* * *

 

“So, how’s your girlfriend?”, he asked. Emerald brushed his hand away when he tried to steal a raspberry from her cereal bowl. They were sitting on the couch, dog was chewing on one of his toys, finally not getting on their nerves for a minute, and he didn’t have anything to do for today. Everything seemed to be wonderfully alright.

“Shut up. She’s not my girlfriend.”

“Em…”

“We didn’t have that talk yet. But do you want to talk about you and Yang?”

“I don’t think you want all the details.” He leaned back and smirked. Ever since he had woken up this morning he hadn’t come down from his high. The only problem was that she wasn’t here right now. He didn’t like to admit it, but he already missed her.

“Are you a thing now?”

He shrugged. “Officially? No. Technically? Sometimes. Probably as much as you and Weiss are.”

“It’s more complicated, idiot. You two have a child together, you’re basically a family already. Of course she’ll want you just because of that. Also you two had six years to get over each other and the first thing you do when you meet again is to tear each other’s clothes off. It’s just a matter of time until you move in together. But Weiss is…”

“Head over heels for you?”

“Not my league.” She shrugged it off in a hopeless attempt to seem like she didn’t care. “Look at her. She’s from a rich family. I know girls like her. This is probably just some kind of adventure for her, a way of rebellion. She’ll eventually realise she wants something else, someone with the same background.”

“This is the most stupid thing you have ever said. Just have that talk with her.”

“And just end it before it has to end? Why would I?”

“Want me to talk to her?”

“Don’t you dare.”


	28. Chapter 28

She managed to stop herself from just showing up at her doorstep… for a day.

“Can I go to the park with Grimm?”, Rose asked.

“If they’re at home.” She hadn’t dared to ask him if he was.

Mercury opened the door and her heart started beating faster. He raised his eyebrows. He didn’t get to say anything because Rose pushed him aside and stormed inside. “Grimm?”, she yelled before she disappeared into her room.

“Rose and I made cake. She wanted to bring you some.”

“Oh, did she?” He smirked. “One could think she only uses it as an excuse to see the dog.”

“Oh, who would do that? That must be something she got from you, I would never do something like that.”

“Oh, do you think so?” He was still standing in the doorway and she wasn’t sure why he wasn’t letting her inside. “How long do you have?”

“Got the day off.”

He nodded and then turned around, walked inside. She followed him hesitantly as he walked to Rose’s room. She was sitting on the floor, cuddling Grimm. Of course she was. “Hey, how about you go and ask Em if she wants to take you to the zoo today?”

“Yes!” She got up. “Can we take Grimm with us?”

“He’ll still be here when you come back”, Yang said. “You can visit him all the time.”

“I’ll go ask her.”

“No running inside, Rose!” Yang sighed when Rose only slowed down a little bit. She looked at Mercury. “What if Emerald says no?”

“That’s the trick, she can’t say no to that child.”

It took Rose less than five minutes to convince Emerald to take her to the zoo. Even with the thought of being alone with Mercury for a couple of hours Yang felt anxious to let her go. She knew Emerald, she knew Mercury trusted her and Rose loved her, but she even felt weird to leave Rose with Tai, this would probably never stop.

“Don’t run away”, she said and hugged Rose goodbye. “Listen to what Emerald says. Don’t leave her side.”

“Yeah, mum.” Rose rolled her eyes.

“Just because you can see her doesn’t mean she can see you.” She kissed her cheek. “Now go have fun.”

“You’re such a mum”, Mercury said when Emerald closed the door behind them.

“Stop saying that.” Yang looked at him, all of a sudden unusually shy to close the distance between them. “Also it’s kinda your fault, so…”

He shrugged. “Not like I could resist.”

“Oh, is that so?” She waved her hips as she walked by him and chuckled. It was rather meant as a joke, but suddenly his hands were on her hips. He turned her around, wrapped his arms around her and picked her up.

“Couch or bedroom?”, he growled.

“Do you really want to risk Emerald and Rose walking in on us doing it on the couch?” She wrapped her legs around his waist, her arm around his neck.

“Come on, do you think Em is stupid?” He carried her to the bedroom anyway, laying her down on the bed and propping himself up above her. She felt like she could stare into his dark eyes forever. “So you didn’t even last a day without me?”

“Do you want me to change my mind?” She ran her hand through his hair. She had almost forgotten how desperately she needed him to be exactly this close to her. “Because I-“

He finally, finally kissed her and she forgot what she had wanted to say.

 

___

It had been Emerald’s idea. Now as she waited for Weiss to show up she grew more and more nervous about it. The truth was that she had desperately craved to see her, but she didn’t want anyone to know. Admitting she wanted to see her meant weakness, meant possibly getting hurt. Definitely getting hurt. But she still had really, really wanted to see her.

“Do you want to look at the meerkats?”, Rose asked and Emerald looked up from her phone.

“Oh, I can see them from here.”

“But you look sad.”

Emerald forced herself to smile. “No, I’m not sad. Just a bit… tired. I didn’t sleep well last night.”

“We can go look at the otters, they’re funny.”

“No, let’s stay here for a bit longer. I like the meerkats.” She had already told Weiss they would wait here. Her phone buzzed. “Hey, I think they’re looking at you.” She opened the message. _I’ll be there in a minute._

 “Yeah, because they’re my friends.” She smiled. “But you’re their friend too now.”

“Go tell them all about Grimm.”

She looked down at her phone again, thought about typing an answer. The worst part was always right before she was about to meet Weiss, when she felt like it had been a bad idea to meet up with her, when she was so nervous she felt like throwing up. She never knew whether-

“Weiss!”

She looked up. Rose had already wrapped her arms around Weiss’ legs, hugging her tightly. Emerald almost didn’t dare to look at her, almost couldn’t bring herself to get up.

“Hey”, she said when she stepped closer and Weiss smiling shyly washed her own insecurities away in a heartbeat. “You made it.”

“You didn’t tell me she would come”, Rose said.

“It was a surprise.” Weiss stroked Rose’s hair. “Do you want to show me the lions you keep talking about?”

“Yes!” Rose took her hand and dragged her with her. Emerald smiled when Weiss softly stroked her back as they both followed the girl.

It was hard not to touch her, but kissing Weiss as fiercely as she wanted to in front of Rose would only lead to everyone knowing about them in no time. They had to make it to the petting zoo before they had a bit of time for themselves, sitting on a bench and watching Rose pet the goats.

“You know, I don’t really like children”, Emerald said. “But this one’s alright.”

Weiss laughed, something she rarely did, and Emerald couldn’t help but to smile. “She’s so cute.”

Rose wasn’t looking in their direction. Emerald slowly reached for her hand, intertwining her fingers with hers. Weiss’ thumb stroked the back of her hand. “She has a lovely childhood.” She sighed and for a moment she wasn’t sure if she really wanted to talk about this. “Mercury says I’m spoiling her to make up for my own.”

Weiss squeezed her hand. “Sometimes… sometimes I feel like it’s the same with me. I don’t know, I could never be strict or say no to her.”

“I can’t believe that idiot made a child. Especially one who’s that cute.”

“Probably Yang’s influence.” She laughed and for a moment Emerald wanted to kiss her so badly her heart was aching.

“Actually I’m not sure if I just want them to finally get back together or not.”

“Why not?”

Emerald shrugged. “He didn’t take it well when she left him. Maybe I’m too careful, but I completely messed up every relationship I ever had… maybe I should trust him more with that.”

“I had one girlfriend”, Weiss said. “It was… I was in love with her and she wasn’t a bad girlfriend or anything, but she was my first and I… I just didn’t know how those things worked and let her take the lead.” Emerald looked at her and thought about their first night together. How insecure she had been, how Weiss probably still didn’t realise how adorable and attractive that had been. How she had insisted on not just being a pillow princess.

“Is that why you broke up?”

“No, it was more about… I was unhappy with the relationship, but it wasn’t until a while after we broke up that I realised why. I think I just wasn’t ready, I didn’t know what I wanted.”   

“Do you know that now?”

“Well, no. But I know I don’t know it, so I can find it out. What about you?”

Talking about relationships with her made her more nervous than she wanted to admit. They still hadn’t talked about their relationship, what they meant for each other. “Well, mostly just…” She didn’t want to say casual affairs, because she didn’t want Weiss to think this was everything she saw in her. “It usually didn’t last very long.”

“What was your longest relationship?”

“Three months.” It had rather been a thing of friends with benefits, if friends was even the right word. Also it was a lie, but she didn’t want to talk about the one time she had been stuck with a girl for almost two years. It had been hard enough to get out of it. Not yet. “I’m just not very lucky with women. I always meet those who are not interested in more or just want someone they can boss around. I…” She took a deep breath, tried to sound as vague as possible. “I met people who gave me a reason to be careful.”

She only realised how bitter she had sounded when Weiss pulled her close and kissed her softly. She didn’t say anything, just looked at her and the warmth in her eyes said it all.

“Emmy! Weiss!”, Rose yelled and they jumped apart. Rose was running towards them and Emerald just hoped she either hadn’t seen too much or wouldn’t tell anyone. “I cuddled the goats, can we now eat something?” She stopped right in front of them, breathless.

“Sure.” Emerald let her hug her, stroked her back. “What do you want to eat?”

“Ice cream.”

“Ice cream is not lunch”, Weiss said. “We have to eat some proper food first.”

“Pizza?”

Weiss sighed. “Well, alright. But it’s an exception.”

Emerald laughed and softly nudged her with her elbow, just to touch her. For a moment they looked at each other and truly didn’t need to say anything else.

 

* * *

 

“I hate reality TV.” She buried her face in the crook of his neck. “Why am I suddenly that tired?”, she mumbled.

“Oh, I could tell you why.” He laughed and kissed her cheek. Falling asleep naked in each other’s arms had been incredibly tempting, but a stupid idea in case Rose and Emerald got home early. So they had put their clothes back on and had settled for the couch, watching TV while she was lying on top of him, her chest against his, his hands softly stroking her back. She didn’t remember the last time she had felt that comfortable.

“Also I’m hungry.”

“I can check if we still have some leftovers from yesterday.”

“No, I don’t want leftovers. We can cook something.”

“I can’t cook.” He softly kissed her temple, running his hand through her hair. “But I can stand there so you have something handsome to look at.”

“At some point you have to learn it.” She groaned and sat up, now sitting on his lap. The fact that she had just been close to him for two hours nonstop didn’t stop her from wanting to kiss him again as she looked down on him now. “What do you think, when will they be back?”

“She’ll text me. She thinks I’m naked right now and that’s something she doesn’t want to see. Her loss.”

“Not mine.” She smirked and finally got up. “Come on, let’s see what you got.”

She made it to the kitchen before he caught her and wrapped his arms around her again. “We can still order something.”

“Or we cook.” She laughed when he kissed her neck. “I mean we can still just make sandwiches.”

“Let’s do that.”

She felt like a teenager again. They couldn’t keep their hands off each other. He hugged her from behind while she was making the sandwiches and it took her ages because she just had to turn around and kiss him from time to time.

The hardest part was that they had to stay away from each other when Rose came back. It would have been stupid to let her know that early. She was already hoping for them to get back together and move in with each other, but Yang knew that rushing things was a bad idea.

It was even harder that she didn’t get to kiss him goodbye. Just a look that clearly told her he wanted this just as badly as she did.

“So did you have fun?”, Yang asked when she walked down the street with Rose.

“Yes. Weiss bought us ice cream and I saw all the animals. The otters were so funny today.”

“Wait, what? Weiss?”

“She wanted to go to the zoo, too. So we all went together. I think Emmy and Weiss really like each other.”

That was new. That was definitely new. “So… what makes you think that?”

“They talked all the time and they were really nice to each other. Also they held hands.”

 _Weiss, you useless lesbian_. Yang chuckled and looked at Rose. “So, what did the otters do?”

 

* * *

 

It was easy to put Rose to bed that night. Blake read her a story while Yang stroked her head. Two pages and Rose was asleep. They quietly left the room. “Did you know Emerald and Weiss are seeing each other?”, Yang asked when she closed the living room door behind her.

“What do you mean they are seeing each other?”, Pyrrha asked. She was opening a bottle of wine, wearing one of Blake’s sweaters.

“You know, when I went to see Mercury today, Emerald and Rose decided to go to the zoo, because… let’s just say they went there. And apparently Weiss met them there, getting along with Emerald really well. According to Rose they were holding hands.”

“Do you think they’re a thing?” Blake sat down next to Pyrrha.

“Come on, how often do you hold hands with some girl you had at least two bitter fights with? They are either dating or idiots.” Yang leaned back in the armchair she had bought two years ago with Neptune. She had wanted to throw it out, but she really loved it.

“Well, are you officially dating Mercury?”

“We are just taking things slow. But I don’t make it a secret that something is going on. Apart from you two.”

“We’re just not telling anyone yet.” Pyrrha blushed and sipped on her wine. “I mean we eventually will, but… We made the conscious decision to enjoy our privacy for a while.”

“It sounds like some diplomatic negotiation when you phrase it like that.” Blake chuckled and kissed her cheek. “But really, people would just gossip and stare. It’s so much more relaxed that way.”

“You tell me.” Yang got herself a glass of wine. “Everyone has been staring at us ever since he came back into our life.”

“I mean we haven’t been wrong or isn’t that a hickey on your inner thigh.”

“Oh, fuck.” She stared at her leg. It wasn’t just one, a couple of hickeys, spread over her inner thighs. “That asshole.” She bit her lip to stop herself from smiling.

“Wait, today?” Pyrrha stared at her with big eyes.

“To be fair, Rose was at the zoo with Emerald. I would never let her get anywhere near something like that.”

“I told you you’d end up with him again, I so did.” Blake shook her head and leaned against Pyrrha.

“Come on, he hated me.”

“He definitely doesn’t hate you anymore looking at your thighs.”


	29. Chapter 29

Maybe this was the point to admit that he had never really been over Yang. They were lying in her bed, dressed even though they had just had sex, his head resting on her chest. He felt comfortably sleepy, one of his hand playing with her hair while her hand was stroking the back of his neck.

He hadn’t spent six years in abstinence. He had been with other women. But none had quite been like her. He had never felt the urge to lie in bed with one of them for hours, to talk to her about everything that came to his mind, and after all those hours they spent together her kisses still felt just as intoxicating as their first one.

None had quite been like her.

“You should decide who you’re loyal to”, she said.

“Emerald.”

“You’re in my bed right now, are you sure?”

“Why don’t you ask Weiss?”

“She won’t tell me anything. Come on. Tell me.”

“Weiss is pretty loud.”

“Oh my god.” Yang squeaked and only didn’t get up because he was holding her down. “Knew it!”

“Are you happy now?”

“Yes. Absolutely. Except I need details. How long has this been going on?”

He wrapped his arms around her tightly. “I already told you too much.”

“This is barely satisfying.”

He sighed and propped himself up on his elbows above her. She looked incredibly good, with messy hair and the hickey on her neck she hadn’t noticed yet. “Someone should get them to make it official.”

“Someone should.” She smirked, almost insecurely. “I mean making it official would probably be a good foundation for them to start things off properly this time.”

“Also people would stop bothering them about it.”

“So we should bother them so people stop bothering them?”

“Don’t say it like that, it makes it sound ridiculous.”

She laughed and pulled him down to kiss him. Her lips felt so soft and warm. He still couldn’t get enough of her.

The doorbell rang and Yang groaned. “Probably the neighbour, they always throw my letters into his post box.”

“Do you need those letters?” He kissed her neck.

“Yes… stop that, or I will never get up. Come on.”

He let go of her and rolled on his back, watched her as she got up. “Hurry.”

“Shut up. Do I look like I just had sex?”

“Not at all.” She totally did. He wished she knew how good it looked on her.

“You know, let’s move to the balcony. The weather is amazing and we finally got to hang up that hammock…”

He didn’t really care as long as she was there, but it still sounded tempting. “Sure.”

So they got up. Before they left her room he pulled her closer one last time, kissed her softly. He couldn’t bring himself to stop touching her. He didn’t want to.

He was still in the hallway when she opened the front door. That was why he saw her. A cold shiver ran down his spine. Margaret Pullman, the social worker.

“Oh, you’re both here”, she said. “Actually I wanted to talk to you about something.”

“Sure.” Yang seemed nervous, but she let her inside. “What is it?”

“Let’s sit down.” The dragon barely looked at him when she walked into the living room. He had to force himself to follow her. The look Yang gave him was concerned, but he just shrugged.

“Rose is with her aunt today”, Yang said. “What is it?”

“Well, with the new situation… I did some research.” She sat down and opened her briefcase and pulled a file out. “On Mr. Black.”

He stopped breathing for a moment. Yes, he should have known. Yes, this was what he should have expected. But in this moment, when everything came crashing down on him again, it still felt like someone was knocking the air out of his lungs.

“So, is it anything important?”

“Quite. Did you know he killed his father?”

Of course she looked at him first and he had to look away. He couldn’t stand the questioning look on her face, how she basically begged him to tell her she was wrong and everything was alright. “What?”, Yang finally asked.

“I have the files with me. It’s been some years, but, what was the man’s name… Marcus Black. His throat was cut in his sleep.” Margaret Pullman now directly looked at him. “Of course this is quite concerning for us.”

“He didn’t… you didn’t kill your father, did you?” She tried to sound nonchalant, something she had always been horrible at. “I mean you’d be in prison.”

“Not guilty”, he finally got himself to say. “That was the sentence.”

“See, no problem at all. He didn’t do it.”

“Well, it’s not as easy, and I’m quite concerned you didn’t know about this.” The social worker opened the file. “The sentence was that it was self-defence. Posttraumatic stress disorder due to Marcus Black cutting his legs off in a drug induced state of psychosis.”

“What?” Yang’s voice was almost a whisper.

“Apparently he didn’t even know what he was doing, which leaves us concerned, because what if something like that happens when Rose is around?”

“It won’t”, he said. “That was ten years ago. I had to have therapy.”

“I’m very sorry for everything that happened to you”, she said and Mercury just wanted to cut _her_ throat. “But you should know we might ask you to talk to one of our experts. Just to be sure.”

“Sure.”

“Actually this is all. I just wanted you to know. You can call me if you have any questions.” She got up. “Goodbye.”

None of them moved, even after she had left. He didn’t dare to look at her until she finally spoke. “When the hell were you going to tell me about that?”, she hissed.

“Not at all.” His voice was cold. He crossed his arms in front of his chest and then finally looked at her. “Why would I?”

“Because… hell, are you serious?” She ran her hand through her hair and began to pace up and down the room. “What _if_ it happens around Rose? What if something triggers you, you have a blackout and the next thing you know is that Rose is dead?”

“That won’t happen.”

“How do you know that? How can you be sure?”

“Because I knew what I was doing!”

For a moment they both just stared at each other, both trying to catch their breath. He almost felt relieved. Ever since he had started to try to live something like a normal life again he had waited for it all to come back to him, to destroy everything he had achieved. Now that it was finally happening he felt agonisingly calm.

“But she said-“

“That’s what I told them. Got me around going to prison.”

“You just… you just cut his throat, holy shit.”

“Not everyone has had a sugarcoated fluffy childhood like you, Blondie.”

“What the hell did you… why didn’t you tell me? I thought you were serious about this, but you don’t even trust me enough to talk to me about this. You should at least have told me because of Rose, because now they know, they know that I didn’t know, do you even know what that could mean? They will take her away from me and it’s your fault!” She was angry now, yelling at him and somehow that made it easier. It was easier when she was hating him than being hurt by him.

“It’s not my fault you let the nearest asshole around get you pregnant. I didn’t ask for any of this, I just rolled with it because you blackmailed me.”

“If that’s the only reason why you did this then just… leave.” Her voice cracked.

He wanted to tell her it wasn’t. Not anymore. But he had never planned to talk to her about this, he had never even wanted her to know. For a moment he wished she had never told him about Rose. After all he had never been strong enough to deal with this, something Emerald had never wanted to accept, something Yang never would have accepted. So he slammed the door behind him when he left.


	30. Chapter 30

“Rose, let mummy sleep. She’s a bit ill.”

“Do we make her tea?”

“I don’t think she wants tea at the moment. How about I make you some yoghurt? With strawberries?”

“Yes!”

Yang stared at the closed door. She heard footsteps and Blake’s voice somewhere far away in the apartment. She sighed and rolled around, wrapped her arms around her blanket. She had stopped crying now, for the moment, and Blake was trying to keep Rose busy. Blake had wanted to call someone to look after Rose but Yang didn’t want anyone to know something was wrong, even though her heart felt like it had been ripped out of her chest.

She heard the tiny footsteps on the hallway too late. The door opened and Rose climbed on her bed. “Mummy?”, she whispered.

“Hey, Rose.” She sighed, didn’t turn around to look at her. She couldn’t run away from her forever, but she had never wanted her to see her like that. “You know, I’m a bit tired…”

“It’s okay.” Rose cuddled up to her, wrapping her tiny arms around her back. “Are you sad again? Like when Neptune didn’t love you anymore?”

It didn’t take more to make her burst in tears again. Yang turned around and wrapped her arms around Rose. She had never wanted Rose to know how much the breakup had affected her, but there she was, her five year old daughter trying to comfort her. “It’s just… you know, once a month women get very emotional?”

“Oh, that.” Rose sounded like she absolutely knew what she was talking about. “Blake can read you a story to make you feel better, and I can give you cuddles.”

Yang really tried to stop sobbing, but Rose only made it worse. “It will be alright tomorrow”, she said.

“Okay.”

“Rose?”, Blake said somewhere in the apartment. It didn’t take her long to spot the open door and come inside. “Oh, there you are.”

“I wanted to make mummy feel better.”

Blake sighed and sat down next to them. “Do you want to sleep for a bit, Yang?”

“It’s alright. It will be her bedtime soon anyway.”

“Okay, then let’s let Yang be the middle one today.” Blake laid down behind her and hugged her. “Let’s cuddle her until she’s asleep.”

“Yes”, Rose said and Yang sniffed.

They stayed like that for a while and Yang calmed down. She still wasn’t alone with this. Maybe everything would be alright.

“I think she’s asleep, Rose”, Blake whispered. “Let’s sneak outside.”

Sometimes Yang was sure she didn’t deserve Blake. She didn’t move until Rose and Blake had left the room. Then she stared at the ceiling and tried not to cry again.

It took Blake forever to come back. “She’s asleep”, she said, lying down next to her. “Yang…”

“I don’t want to talk about it.” She was almost about to cry again. “I know we have to, but I just want to say that I don’t want to.”

“He should have told you”, Blake said. “But people can change.”

“I know.” She sighed and sat up. “I want to… I want to believe that. He has been so nice to Rose and I don’t think he would ever hurt her, but why didn’t he tell me?”

“Because sometimes it’s hard to talk about things, Yang.”

“What if they take her away from me?”

“Come on, they won’t. And even if it’s a problem for them, we’ll just get rid of him before we lose Rose.”

“You’re cruel.” Yang chuckled and reached for Blake’s hand. She had actually managed to make her feel better. “I have to talk to him.”

“Yes you do.”

“But… I don’t like that he can make me feel so horrible in a couple of minutes. I haven’t even felt that bad when Neptune broke up with me.”

“Because you’re in love with him.”

She didn’t even deny it. “But I have to think about Rose first.”

“Come on. It will be alright. I know it’s a shock but… I mean he said he had therapy? Ask him about that. You deserve answers. But you can figure it out.”

“Maybe.” Yang laid down again and let Blake wrap her arms around her. “I just don’t want Rose to see me like that.”

“Yang…”

“No, I won’t argue about that.”

Blake sighed and pulled her closer. “Do you want me to get you some ice cream? Chocolate? Cookies?”

“All of that.”

 

* * *

 

He was seriously concerned Emerald might just break the door at some point. To be fair, it was like an unspoken rule that they didn’t lock their doors like that, but he couldn’t stand anyone being around him right now.

“Mercury!”, Emerald yelled. “Open the door or I will call Yang.”

He sighed and got up, opened the damn door. “What do you want?”

“The hell is going on?” She barely managed to hide her concern. She pushed him inside and followed him. “You’re not like that when everything’s alright.”

“Social worker turned up, told Yang about everything, she threw me out.”

“Fuck.” She stared at him for a moment, then looked away and shook her head. For a moment they both didn’t say a word, then she sat down on his bed. “So what now?”

“Nothing now.” He shrugged. “She will probably not want to talk to me again, which is fine with me.”

“Liar.”

“Fuck off.”

“Asshole.” She shook her head. “We have to find a solution for this.”

“There is no solution, Em. This happened. I can’t do anything about it now. I’d do it again. She has every right to kick me out of their life.”

“But… Rose?”

“Yeah, what about her?”

Emerald bit her lip and looked away. “Don’t pretend you don’t care.”

“She’s better off without me.” He wanted to hug her because he knew how fond she had grown on her, because it might actually make him feel better, but he knew it would only make it harder for him if he did. “Leave me alone.”

“You’ll just either sulk or do something stupid.”

“Come one, what-“

“Last time Yang left you, you got really drunk and caught chlamydia.”

“A child and chlamydia are enough reminders to use condoms, thank you very much.”

“Idiot.”

“Just leave me alone.”

“You won’t leave the house.” She got up. “Not without me. I won’t let you do anything stupid this time.”

“What, are you scared I might kill myself?” She only stared at him, bit her lip. “Oh, Emerald, come on!”

She turned away. “Just stop being that stupid, okay? That’s all I’m asking for.”

He sighed. It was hard to be mad at her, but being mad at everyone was the only thing that kept him from going insane. “I’ll wait and sulk in here, alright?”

“I’ll make burritos for dinner and you’ll eat it.”

“Sure.” He waited until she had closed the door behind her, then he let himself fall on the bed, buried his face in a pillow and groaned.

He avoided Emerald until she called him for dinner, and he only left his room for her. They ate in front of the TV so they didn’t have to talk to each other, then sat quietly together and watched a movie that neither of them actually wanted to see.

His phone buzzed. He almost ignored it, but Emerald looked at him like she would if he didn’t. A message from Yang, of course from her. _Can we talk?_ He threw the phone in Emerald’s lap and reached for the remote.

“I mean… that’s good, isn’t it?”

“She probably just wants to tell me I will never see them again. I- hey, what are you typing?”

“She’ll come over tomorrow at ten, thank me later.”

“I fucking hate you.”

She shrugged. “I don’t care.”


	31. Chapter 31

They were just having breakfast together. It was no big deal.

Emerald being at Weiss’ place for the first time since they had started to see each other probably was a big deal.

“So you really don’t know how to make scrambled eggs?”

“Winter is usually doing all the cooking.” Weiss blushed and avoided to look at her. “I should have looked it up on the internet or…”

“But if you did that I couldn’t show you how to do it.”

“I can cook pasta.” Weiss crossed her arms in front of her chest. She looked adorable.

“Wow. I’m so impressed.”

“Stop mocking me!”

Emerald laughed and pulled her closer to kiss her. It only took a couple of seconds for her to melt. “Can we eat now?”

“But the eggs…”

“Next time. We still have toast and that fancy yoghurt.”

“Greek yoghurt is not fancy, Em.”

Emerald laughed and placed another kiss on her lips before she sat down. It had been a spontaneous idea to meet up because Mercury had thrown her out of the flat to talk to Yang. Having somewhere to stay and having Weiss to distract her from the anxiety about losing Rose forever… probably the best idea she had ever had.

“How are things going with your business?”, Weiss asked.

“We’re working on it. But… I mean we will probably be able to keep a couple of Cinder’s old customers, but this whole thing didn’t exactly help our reputation.”

“You know, maybe I could help you”, Weiss said. She took Emerald’s bowl and filled it with yoghurt, then arranged raspberries in neat circles. “Winter and I have a couple of business contacts who could be interested.”

“You would do that?”

“Of course.” She reached for the honey. “Do you want walnuts?”

“Sure.” Emerald looked at her and couldn’t help but to adore her. “I mean if you could do that… that would help us a lot.”

“The walnuts?” Weiss looked up and smirked. It looked incredibly good on her.

“Oh, come on. You know what I mean.”

“Of course I do.” She passed her the bowl and poured yoghurt into her own. “I’ll talk to Winter.”

“Thank you.”

“Oh, it’s nothing, really.”

Emerald pulled her closer to kiss her. “For once I want to say thank you without you brushing it off.”

“I didn’t-“

She kissed her again before she could get another word out. “If you apologise now I swear to god I will yell at you.”

“I hate it when you yell at me.”

“But you love it when I scream because-“

“Don’t say it out loud.” Weiss blushed and looked away. “But… yes.”

“You’re adorable.”

Weiss rolled her eyes, but smiled. She put way less effort into decorating her raspberries than Emerald’s. “Em…”

“Mh?”

“Are we… you know?”

“What? Gay? Yeah, pretty much.”

“No, not that…” She sighed and avoided to look at her. “I meant… dating.”

Emerald froze. Oh, that talk. “Well…” How was she supposed to answer that? What if she was just asking to tell her they weren’t? What if she was just asking to make sure they were? “I mean… I don’t know.”

“Oh.”

“No, I mean we didn’t have that talk, I can’t just make that decision alone.”

“I don’t know, do you… do you just say you’re dating and then you are? I mean we pretty much already do everything else.”

“So… I don’t know, would you want that?”

“Yes.”

Emerald looked up. Weiss avoided her gaze, poured way too much honey over her yoghurt. “Okay”, she said.

Weiss looked up. “Okay?”

“Well, yeah. Okay. Then we’re dating.” She tried to make it sound like she didn’t care because she cared ay too much. She bit her lip, trying not to smile.

“Oh, I forgot the coffee.” Weiss hurried to get up, almost spilling the honey.

Emerald looked at her for a moment, fumbling around with the coffee machine, hands shaking. Somehow it made Emerald’s own nervousness vanish in a heartbeat. She got up to wrap her arms around her from behind, placing a soft kiss on her neck. “Are you okay?”

“Yes”, she squeaked. “I’m just… I just wanted to make sure you-“

“Weiss.”

 “Do you want to go on a date with me?”

“Are you seriously asking me out right after we decided we’re dating now?”

 She turned around to look at her. “Why not?”

Emerald pulled her closer. “Isn’t that a bit… redundant?”

“But we never really had a real date. I mean I sneaked into your apartment a couple of times, we went to the zoo with Rose, but… do you want to go on a real date with me?”

“You mean a cheesy one where you pick me up at seven but I’m not ready yet, I put on my best dress and then we talk about our five year plan in a fancy restaurant?”

“Something like that. You make it sound so stupid when you phrase it like that. Also I don’t think I have ever seen you in a dress.”

“But who pays the bill if none of us is a guy?”

“Obviously me, I’m rich.”

“We split the bill. And no super fancy restaurant, I don’t like those.”

Weiss rolled her eyes. “But none of those disgusting fast food places.”

“Alright, alright.”

“Wednesday at eight and we meet at the restaurant?”

“Sounds good.” She leaned down to kiss her. “Does asking for a date always sound like some sort of business negotiation with you?”

“It’s not that bad, you’re exaggerating.”

“Tell yourself that, snowflake.”

Weiss groaned but Emerald muffled her protest by kissing her softly.  

 

* * *

 

“So?”, he asked. He didn’t dare to look at her. She was sitting on the couch, he was standing next to the door, arms crossed. He didn’t want to have this talk, but in a couple of minutes she would disappear from his life forever and he could try to forget this. Better get it done now than later.

“I’m not mad at you.”

He raised his eyebrows. “You’re not?”

“I want to believe you. I mean… you have shown me that you can be a good father for her, despite everything. You’re a good influence.” Well, he certainly didn’t believe that. “I don’t want to… change things, I mean about you and her. But I… wanted to talk about us.”

“Yeah?” He had a feeling he already knew what was going to happen.

“I just…” She took a deep breath and ran her fingers through her hair. She always did that when she was nervous. Right now it was just driving him insane. “We had one fight and it was bad. I felt horrible. We didn’t just talk this through, we exploded and Rose came into my room and tried to comfort me, I don’t want that for her.”

He closed his eyes. He knew where this was going.

“It’s not just about us anymore. We… we have a child. Everything we do will somehow affect her, everything that happens to us. We have a fight and she has to comfort her own mother, what if that doesn’t end? What if we tell her we’re together and move in together and then every time we fight her whole world breaks apart because we’re not able to keep it away from her?”

“So what are you trying to say?”

“We should just stay friends.”

There it was. He exhaled the breath he had been holding. The worst part was that he knew she was right. They had to put Rose first. And he knew they would fight again, he knew it would get ugly, he knew that Rose didn’t deserve that.

Even if that meant he had to be around Yang for the rest of his life, having the only woman he really wanted right in front of him, never being able to be with her. “Alright”, he said with raspy voice.

“This isn’t about… this thing. It’s just about you and me and the situation we’re in, and that going to break her heart if we get together and then break up again. I don’t want to hurt you.”

In this case it was inevitable. “It’s okay”, he said, even though it wasn’t. “You’re right.”

For a moment they didn’t even dare to look at each other. It was worse than six years ago, so much worse.

“Can we make this work?”, she asked.

“What do you mean?”

“We have never really been with each other without… something going on.”

“You mean sex.”

“Yeah, I mean sex. But we have always either been mad at each other or we were as good as in a relationship. We have never really been… just friends.”

Because they weren’t just friends. “No”, he said. “But I guess it has to.”

“I’m sorry.”

He wanted to tell her that there was nothing to be sorry about, or that maybe there was something to be sorry about, but her apologising didn’t make it any better. He wasn’t even angry anymore, he was just… hurt.

“I still have stuff to do”, he said.

“Yeah, sure.” She got up and he couldn’t bring himself to look at her. “I’ll call you because of Rose.”

“Sure.”

Maybe he could have said something that would make her change her mind, maybe he could have stopped her. But after all she was right. After all she would probably be happier without him, and he would be happier without her digging up all those memories he had locked away so carefully. Maybe she would just meet someone else and he would be happy on his own. Maybe everything he had needed all those years was a cut, an end, an answer to all his questions and now he would be able to move on.

Once upon a time he had been better at lying to himself.

 

* * *

 

For a moment Mercury thought about hiding from Emerald, but she would get him anyway. So he stayed on the couch and stared at the TV when she got home, ignoring she was there.

“I’m back. How did it go?” She was out of breath, as if she had run up the stairs. He didn’t look at her. “Oh no, don’t tell me she-“

“Stop panicking”, he growled. “Nothing about Rose changes.”

“Okay, what’s wrong then?” She sat down next to him. He still didn’t look at her. “What about you and Yang?”

“We’re still friends.”

“Oh no…”

“Em, that’s not exactly helping.”

She sighed and wrapped her arms around him before he could stop her. “No chlamydia this time, okay?”

“I don’t have sex with you, what do you care?”

“What I really wanted to say is don’t hit on every blonde woman to prove you’re totally over her again.” She didn’t let go of him and he leaned back, crossed his arms in front of his chest.

“I won’t ever touch a blonde again. Can we please talk about you and your stupid affair?”

“Let’s not, please.”

“What, did you break up, too?”

“What do you want for dinner?”

He looked at her. Tried to pretend he didn’t care. “You had a pretty good day, didn’t you?”

“Mercury, I don’t want to shove it into your face, okay? It’s… not that important.”

“I’m happy for you.” He was barely able to cover up the bitterness in his voice.

“I’m not important right now, Merc. Do you want to order pizza?”

“Sure.”

She sighed and got up. “I’ll order the pizza, you decide what you want to do tonight.”

He shrugged, stared at the TV again. So Emerald was in a happy relationship and he just had lost every chance he had had to finally be with a woman he would probably never get over.

The worst thing was that Emerald probably wouldn’t accept hiding in a dark hole for the rest of his life or beating someone up as proper evening activities.


	32. Chapter 32

He had never had a thing for playgrounds.

As a child it had been the place where his father had sent him to get rid of him, where he had been beaten up by other kids more than once. Now it was just a place where he sat and waited until Rose got tired building sand castles.

Grimm slept on the floor next to the bench he was sitting on. Apparently the dog wasn’t fond of all the other kids on the playground, rather stayed with Mercury than Rose. He stared at his phone and hoped Rose would get hungry or tired soon. He didn’t want to be here.

He looked up when he heard Rose scream. A boy was hitting her with his shovel, but before he could even get up she had ripped the shovel out of his hand, hitting him back.

“You stupid child, stop hitting my son right now!” A woman got up and stormed towards her, grabbing Rose by the collar and roughly shoving her away from the other child. For a moment Mercury felt like he _was_ going to kill her.

Grimm was faster than him. All of a sudden the lazy dog turned into a growling mountain of black fury. He shoved himself between Rose and the woman and she shrieked, jumped backwards. Rose started to cry and Grimm didn’t stop barking at the woman as if he was going to sink his teeth into her throat any second.

“Hey, don’t kill her”, Mercury said as he came closer. “Insurance won’t pay for that.” At least now he didn’t have to make sure she understood not to touch his child like that, that dog was doing a pretty good job at that.

“Is that your dog?”, she asked. “And your daughter?”

“The one you just assaulted? Yeah, that’s mine.”

“Stop that dog. Grab it by the collar.”

“Do you really think I could stop that beast from having you for breakfast if he really wanted to?”

“Your daughter hit my son!”

“He hit her first.” He looked at Rose and then carefully picked her up, let her cry into his shirt.

“You should teach her not to behave like that! And probably put down that dog as well.”

“No one is going to put down that dog, actually I’m just starting to like him.” He smirked and it was satisfying to see how wild it drove her. “Your child is a spoiled brat, you can be glad she doesn’t come more after her mother because then she would have hit him harder.”

“I will call the police.”

“Yeah, I’m sure that will be of great importance to them.” He turned around. “Come on, let’s get you some ice cream.”

“You can’t just get your daughter ice cream as a reward for hitting my son!”

“Bitch you thought.”

“That’s a bad word”, Rose whispered.

“Yeah, but she deserved it.”

Grimm followed them, growling until the woman was out of sight. “Are you okay?”, Mercury asked.

“I swear he hit me first.” She sobbed lazily and leaned her head against his chest.

“I know, I saw him hitting you.” He walked down the street. A perk of taking care of Rose was that he now knew almost every ice cream store nearby. “She shouldn’t have grabbed you like that.”

“But Grimm was protecting me. And if he hadn’t you would have protected me.”

“I would actually bite her throat if I had to.” He meant it.

“That’s mean. I shouldn’t have hit him back.”

“Maybe, but you don’t have to let him hit you. See, there’s the ice cream store.”

Picking her ice cream distracted her from being sad about the incident. They sat down on a bench and Rose watched the cars that passed by for a moment, Grimm resting his head on her lap. For a moment Mercury was actually fond of that dog. Feeling protective of Rose was something they had in common.

“I’m sorry for hitting the boy”, Rose said eventually.

He sighed. It was probably the right thing to teach her not to hit other children, but he had never claimed to be the morally flawless parent. “It’s alright”, he said.

“Can I still come and see you?”

He looked at her. “Why… why wouldn’t you?”

“Because I did something bad.” She stared at her ice cream, but she had stopped eating it.

“Rose, why…” He sighed. The sad look in her eyes, because of him, made him feel like a dagger right in his chest. This was even worse than Yang breaking up with him. “Do you really think you won’t be allowed to come over anymore as soon as you do something bad?”

“Mum said I have to behave well.”

“Yeah, but… I mean she wouldn’t just throw you out either, would she?”

“Yes, but she’s my mum.”

“And I’m your…” Dad. He still couldn’t really say it out loud. “It’s not how this works. I’m not just going to leave.”

“Do you… do you just look after me because you have to?”

He sighed. Yeah, Yang Xiao Long was probably able to break his heart in the blink of an eye, but her daughter was far worse. “No. Why do you think that?”

“I just… I thought that you’ll be annoyed when I do something bad.”

“Okay, but isn’t Yang annoyed by you from time to time?”

“But she… she’s my mum, she’ll always be there.”

“Okay, Rose, listen.” He took a deep breath. He had never been good at being soft, talking about how he felt. But he had to try, for her. “You know, to be honest I didn’t even know you existed until a couple of months ago. Your mum lost my number and believe it or not, it took her this long to find me. That’s why I haven’t been there. That’s why they invented phones that save the numbers of the people you call. But now I’m here and you won’t get rid of me anytime soon. I really look forward to spend time with you every time you come over.”

She looked up. “Really?”

He shrugged. “I’m just not…” He looked away. “I just come off as rude sometimes. But I don’t mean it, not towards you.”

“Like Grimm?”

He raised his eyebrows. “What?”

“He doesn’t mean to be rude, but he can’t really show you how much he likes you.”

“Yeah, I guess then I’m like Grimm.”

“But you know he likes you, do you?”

“I mean you just told me. So I guess now I know. Your ice cream melted, come, let’s get you some that’s actually frozen.”

She nodded and let him take the cup with the melted rests of her ice cream out of her hands. The dog gladly licked it. “The strawberry ice cream wasn’t good anyway.”

“Oh, the one time you try something new…” He picked her up, just because he wanted to hug her. She leaned her head against his shoulder, wrapped her tiny arms around his neck. “You know, maybe you shouldn’t have hit that boy with the shovel, but if you want to hit his mum next time she grabs you like that… I won’t tell anyone.”

She giggled. “You’re evil.”

“You know, if you make friends with someone bad the bad ones can’t hurt you anymore.”

“Can you make friends with someone bad?”

“Look at Grimm”, he said as they queued for more ice cream. “You know, black dogs bring death and disease.” He chuckled when she looked at him with big eyes. “But this one loves you, so he will keep death and disease away from you. He already made the evil woman get away from you.”

“You mean… to me he’s not bad anymore?”

“Yes. And because he’s actually very, very evil nothing can be bad to you anymore.”

“I will make sure he doesn’t do any bad things, because then he is actually a good dog.”

“Nothing can stay bad when you’re around.”

The worst thing was that when they got her second cup of ice cream and went back to the bench where Grimm still waited for them, he knew that she was still all worth it. If Yang hadn’t gotten pregnant they would have ended up dating, actually dating. If it wasn’t for Rose they would maybe be dating now. But if he had the choice he would still always pick her. No matter how much it hurt. No matter how badly he wanted to be with Yang. For Rose he would go through that all over again, every day if he had to. She was making him weak and he was alright with it.  


	33. Chapter 33

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeeeah I know it took me horribly long to update. It was a complicated chapter, but also real life stuff happened and I had a lot of stress and had to change a lot of plans. But here it is, the chapter you had to wait for way too long. 
> 
> By the way, I will be on a two week vacation soon. No updates during that time, but lots of writing, so when I suddenly disappear... expect a big update in August.

Yang hadn’t expected how much she would miss him. She knew she shouldn’t have gotten her hopes up in the first place, she knew she had made the right choice, but again and again she caught herself forgetting they had broken up, still feeling the tingling euphoria of knowing he was there in the back of her mind that she had carried with her for the last couple of weeks, until she remembered he was not in her life anymore. Not in that way.

She walked down the street and tried not to burst into tears again. It was worse than when Neptune had broken up with her, because their relationship had been in a crisis when he had left her, to be completely honest she had seen it a long time coming. But the ting with Mercury had never really started. She had only ever gotten a glimpse of what it could have been like.

The café Raven had picked was small and expensive. Yang still thought it was probably a bad idea to do this, but they hadn’t really talked since the fight about Rose had escalated that badly. She still wasn’t expecting too much from this.

Raven was already there when she arrived. She was looking at her when she walked through the door, watching her with crimson eyes as if she was her next prey, a smile curling her lips that couldn’t be honest. 

“Sorry, I had to take Rose to her dad first.” Yang sat down across the table, fumbled around with her bag so she didn’t have to look at her. It was a lie, Rose was with Blake, but she needed a better excuse to be late then _‘I didn’t want to wait for you so I waited around the corner for ten minutes’_. It took her longer that it should have to put her sunglasses away.

“She has a dad now?”

Also she had wanted to mention him in some way, just to get it off her chest in case they would talk about it anyway. “Yes. He takes care of her from time to time.”

“You told me you didn’t know who her father was.”

“I suddenly remembered.”

Raven sighed and Yang finally looked up. She was wearing a loose red top that showed how little she cared about what she wore and still looked good on her. The balance between being rich and also not giving a damn about society’s expectations Yang had once admired. Once. “I didn’t order anything yet, I wanted to wait until you’re here”, Raven said.

“I’ll just take a glass of water.” Yang waived at the waitress, a bit too aggressively to hide how nervous she was.

“Sure.” Raven smiled again and Yang felt like throwing something at her. “So, how are you?”

“We’re not here to make small talk”, Yang said and for a moment Raven’s smile faded. “So what do you want?”

“Who says I _want_ something from you, Yang? I just wanted to talk to you.” Now she was definitely not smiling anymore.

“Because you’re-“ Yang stopped when the waitress approached their table.

“Should I come back in a couple of minutes?”, she asked and her voice gave away that she couldn’t care less about whatever they were talking about. Yang still looked at her to escape Raven’s gaze for a second.

“No”, Yang quickly said. “A glass of water for me.”

“Cappuccino.” Raven’s voice was almost dismissive. The waitress made sure to get away from them as fast as she could.

“You’re basically suing me for whatever you hope to achieve”, Yang said so abruptly and harshly even Raven looked baffled for a second. “Forgive me when I’m not in the mood to talk about how my day was.”

“We’re probably equally unhappy about the current situation, but-“

“Oh, are we?” She tried to lower her voice, solely because she didn’t want to grant Raven the satisfaction of making her yell at her in a café. “You’re not the one who’s getting random visits by social workers or who has to deal with her daughter being scared she might be taken away from her.”

“I didn’t come here to argue with you like that.”

“Then why did you even bother to come? Usually you just let your lawyers speak for you.”

“You didn’t leave me any choice”, Raven said, her voice calm but oh so threatening. It almost felt good. Like she had been right about her all along. Like she had every right to be mad at her.

“I didn’t force you to do that.”

“You threatened to cut me out of your life, your life and her life, simply because we disagreed on something.”

“Something?” Yang leaned back and crossed her arms in front of her chest. The cool metal of her prosthetic pressed against her arm. “At least say his name.”

“Come on, don’t treat him like he’s dead. It didn’t harm Qrow after all. Even if, this fight wasn’t about him.” 

“It was, you know that. Just because you can’t let go of your stupid feud with him.”

“It’s not a feud, he’s an alcoholic and apparently I’m the only one who doesn’t want to sugarcoat that fact just so you can pretend he’s still the cool uncle who tells lewd jokes and has pillow fights with you.”

“At least he doesn’t sue me because he can’t get over being a coward and running away from his own child.”

For a moment Raven was speechless, something Yang had only seen once in her life. It didn’t take her long to regain her composure, but it still felt utterly satisfying. “We talked about that”, she said.

“You’re just trying to make up for your mistakes and somehow relive your dream of raising your daughter by stealing mine. But honestly, you have never been a mother in your life, you wouldn’t even know how this works. You just don’t want to be the worst mother around here, but you are.”

Yang had meant to throw exactly those words at Raven for years, but once she had actually done it, it didn’t feel half as satisfying as she thought it would. When she looked at her she just felt hollow, Raven pressing her lips together and for once she almost looked hurt. 

“You know, forget it.” Yang got up. “This will not lead anywhere, we should just get back to letting the lawyers do the talking.”

 “Yang…”

“No, stop it.” She pulled her purse out and threw a bank note on the table without even looking how much it was. She didn’t want Raven to owe her anything, not even a couple of cents for a glass of water. “Don’t call me again.”

Once she had walked out of the café and the hot summer air hit her she felt like crying or yelling at someone or both or just breaking down and not moving for hours. She bit her lip and she knew she was right, she knew she had every right to be angry, but she still felt guilty for just walking away.

She didn’t stop walking until she was a block away from her apartment. She knew she couldn’t go back inside where Blake was waiting for her to tell her how it had went, where Rose was waiting for her to be a mum. She sat down on a bench near the playground she went to with Rose almost every other day. Her throat clenched when she took her phone out of her bag and went through her contacts, already knowing where she would stop. It was a horrible idea. She still called him.

It took him so long to pick up she was sure he would just ignore her call. “Yang?”, he said with raspy voice.

“We are friends, right?”, she asked before she could change her mind.

“Are you drunk?”

“It’s eleven in the morning, Merc.” She closed her eyes. This was probably a horrible idea. “Did you just get up?”

“I didn’t get up yet.”

“It’s eleven in the morning.”

“Yeah, I don’t really see your point.”

“You didn’t answer my question.”

For what felt like an eternity he didn’t say a word. She was almost sure he had been fallen asleep again until he finally spoke. “Well, I assume. Yes.”

“Can we talk about something?”

“About us?”

“No. No, not that kind of conversation. Just… I can’t talk about it with Blake, I don’t want to freak her out.” She took a deep breath. This was a horrible idea. But she didn’t even need to pretend she could stay away from him. They had to learn to get along. “Can we meet up?”

“Sure”, he said and for a moment Yang was sure he hadn’t understood what she was asking for. She had been so sure he would say no. “Where are you?”

“The playground near my apartment. I didn’t want to go… Blake and Rose are home.”

“I can be there in… I don’t know, twenty minutes? I’m not sure if you want to sit around and wait that long. If you want to you can come to the park, you know the one where Em and Rose took you to walk the beast last week. I have to walk that stupid dog anyway.”

“Yes, I know the park.” She wasn’t sure if she was supposed to be hurt or glad that he didn’t invite her home. Probably a good idea. She knew the decision not to become a couple was right, but keeping her hands off him would still be hard while being home alone, talking about something deeply personal to her. “I’ll go there.”

“Alright. I’ll try to hurry.” He hung up and she was still not sure if this had been a good idea.

 

She saw Grimm first. He was already running over the lawn, catching a ball he brought back to Mercury who sat in the grass and lazily threw it for him again. Her throat clenched when she saw him. His hair was still messy and he didn’t notice her until she was already sitting down next to him. “You really just woke up, did you?”

“I got up at six to walk that stupid dog because Em is with Weiss. Then went back to bed.”

“I envy you.” She leaned back and watched the dog coming back to them, took the ball from him before she threw it again, way further than he had. “I met my mother today.”

“The one who’s suing you?” He laid down, crossing his arms behind his head. His shirt exposed a bit of skin right above his jeans and she had to force herself to look away.

“Yes, that one. She wanted to talk about it, but of course it’s just… I mean what did she even expect? Putting me through all of this for years and then meet me in a stupid café, her telling me that she never even wanted this and suddenly we can play happy family?”

“I have no idea what’s even going on but I assume she’s the bitch here?”

“Oh, come on. I told you about it.” Grimm came back and dropped the ball into Yang’s lap. She threw it again and watched him run off.

“You mostly just complained about her.”

“I never told you the full story?”

“No, never.”

“Why didn’t you ask?”

“I didn’t want to encourage you to be even more upset about it.”

“What a stupid answer.” She sighed and looked at Grimm who came back and now sat down next to them, keeping the ball between his paws. “She left me when I was a baby. Not ready to be a mum, something stupid like that. She only got in touch with me again shortly after I had Rose. We tried to… I don’t know, get to know each other. But we also had a lot of fights and it all escalated when she told me she didn’t think it was a good idea to allow Qrow to look after Rose. I mean we all knew Qrow had a drinking problem, but he looked after me and Ruby once in a while when we were young and when I asked him to take Rose for a couple of hours he had been sober for months. Unlike her he didn’t leave me and he’s not even my father, he probably knows more about how to handle a child than Raven. So I told her she can disappear from our life forever, I don’t want to ever see her again, and I stuck with that decision. Only that she couldn’t accept it and sued me, first to see Rose, then for custody.”

He didn’t say anything and Yang felt like crying, until she finally turned around. He was looking at her with one of his more serious expressions and she quickly turned away. “How long was he sober?”, he finally asked.

“Oh, come on, don’t you-“

“Yang.”

“Maybe five or six months. Not the longest time he had ever been sober, but he was on a good way. And even when he still had his relapses, he never would have touched a drop of alcohol with Rose around. But that doesn’t matter, it still was none of her business. Don’t side with her.”

“I’m not siding with her.”

“But you’re trying to tell me she was right.”

“No, I’m not. Do you really want my opinion on all this?”

“Definitely not.”

“You escalated over nothing, both of you.” He sat up. “Not to say you’re both equally to blame, but cutting her out of your life because she was worried? A bit extreme.”

“Extreme? Do you want to talk about your father?”

“No need to get personal, Blondie.” He nudged her with his elbow and she felt like throwing herself into his arms, even though she knew she should have been mad at him. “At least now I know where you got that from.”

“I hate you”, she groaned, but she couldn’t even be mad at him. “But she’s… she’s not allowed to talk to me like that or judge me about my choices on who can look after Rose and who can’t. You don’t know what it’s like to be that young and have a child. Everyone tells you what to do, that you’re wrong about everything and you can’t possibly make it on your own. Then she comes into my life, the woman who tried to be a mother and didn’t last a month before she gave up, and tells me what to do.”

“I mean I can’t really give you advice on how to deal with bad parents”, he said. “Cut her throat might just cause more trouble in this case.”

“I can’t believe you’re joking about this.” She knew it was wrong, but it actually made her feel a bit better. Maybe just because it meant his past wasn’t haunting him as badly as she had feared. “I shouldn’t have agreed to talk to her.”

“Worrying about it now won’t help you either, will it?”

“You say it as if it was easy.” She just wanted to touch him, be close to him again, but she knew it was a damn stupid idea so she ran her hand through Grimm’s dark fur instead. He didn’t seem to mind. “Do you really think I’m being unreasonable about her?”

“Yang, I didn’t say that.”

“But you think that I am, don’t you?”

“Everything I said was that you two escalate quickly over nothing.”

“It wasn’t nothing.”

“It was nothing you sue people over. I don’t know who’s to blame here, and I don’t think I need to know, but you two just seem to snap easily.”

She nodded, stroked Grimm’s head more to make herself feel better than the dog. He was probably right. But that didn’t solve her problem. “I’m sorry”, she said eventually. “I shouldn’t have snapped at you too.”

“I’m not mad at you, but you can still make up for it.”

She rolled her eyes, but the words still hurt. Two weeks ago that definitely would have meant something sexual and now it couldn’t. Not that it had been just about the sex, but she still couldn’t help but to miss the times when she didn’t have to worry about not getting too close to him. And yeah, probably the sex as well. “What did you have in mind?”, she asked and she hoped he wouldn’t test the boundaries they were just trying to set.

But he didn’t. “Buy me coffee”, he said and got up. “I got up for you after all.”

He offered her his hand to help her up and after a moment of hesitation she took it. His touch was warm and they both let go a bit too fast for the other not to notice. “Is there a coffee shop anywhere nearby?”

“Just around the corner. I got Rose cookies there on our way to work.”

“You can’t say not to her, can you?” She laughed.

“Oh, I can. I totally can. I’m just never in the mood for temper tantrums in the morning.”


	34. Chapter 34

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter. Because the next one will be loooooong.

“No.” Emerald crossed her arms in front of her chest and he knew he was screwed.

“Emmy, please.”

“Don’t Emmy me”, she said so harshly a pregnant woman gave him a pitiful look. “She’s your daughter, so you can pick a birthday present for her.”

“You already picked the only thing she doesn’t have yet. I don’t know what to get her, at least give me a hint.”

“Then it would just be another present I picked. Do you want to be the dad who never really got her a birthday present? The dad who doesn’t know her well enough to get her one?”

“I know her.” He rolled his eyes. Even the pregnant woman looked way more dismissive now. “But honestly, I can’t just get her another stuffed animal because she already has like a thousand.”

“Get her something you liked to play with as a child.”

“Is that why you got her a princess dress?”

“Fuck you.”

He immediately knew he had crossed a line. He sighed and reached out to squeeze her hand. “I mean you can at least stop me from buying a bad present.”

“Of course I will.” She rolled her eyes, but she didn’t walk away. “Go pick something nice or I will lock you inside this store forever.”

He had never felt comfortable in toy stores. Once upon a time he would have given everything to be able to buy just one of those little toy cars, but that part of him had died long before he had started to earn his own money. The truth was that growing up he hadn’t had many things to play with and he didn’t remember all the things he had wanted. He stared at a bunch of pink boxes with dolls, but he immediately knew that Rose wouldn’t like them.

When he finally made it back to Emerald she was leaning against the wall, typing something on her phone. “I got something”, he said. “Can we leave now?”

“What did you get her?”, she asked and he handed her the box. “That is... how to build your own robot? Don’t you think she’s a bit young for that?”

“It says seven and up on the box”, he said. “It has everything you need, you just have to screw it together.”

“She’s five in case you forgot.”

“She’ll be six when she gets it. She’s a smart six year old.”  

“Five, Merc, five.”

“Almost six.”

“But why?”

“I don’t know, you told me to get something I would have liked as a child. I once tried to build a robot out of a tin.” He shrugged as if it was nothing.

“Alright, alright. Good thing you weren’t responsible of her presents when she was young enough to swallow everything that fits in her mouth.” She gave him the box back. “You’ll also get her a couple of animal figurines for her zoo, I already picked a few she doesn’t have yet, and some that could use a few more friends in her eyes.”

“And you couldn’t tell me before?”

“If I did you wouldn’t even have tried. Come, let’s get the figurines.”


	35. Chapter 35

Mercury didn’t even want to know what Rose had done to convince Blake to allow her to invite Grimm to her birthday party, but she had called this morning and told them to bring the goddamn dog and make sure he was clean and wouldn’t break anything.

They only arrived on time because Emerald had literally thrown him out of the bed and it was Rose who opened the door, of course it was her. “Grimm!”, she squealed, wrapping her arms around his neck and he started to lick her face. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

“I love it when she’s happy to see us”, Emerald whispered. They carefully made their way around the inseparable couple to the kitchen. Blake was covering a cake with chocolate and he didn’t even dare to look at Yang long enough to see what she was doing.

“Presents in the living room”, Blake said. “Food on the kitchen table.”

“Merc ruined the cupcakes”, Emerald said.

He rolled his eyes. “That’s not true, you know it.”

“He burnt them.”

“You didn’t tell me it was my job to make sure they didn’t.”

“I did, you just didn’t listen. Anyway, I made mousse au chocolat instead.”

“She’ll eat it anyway”, Yang said. “I don’t think anything can bring her down now that the dog is here. She pulled me out of the bed at six in the morning and hasn’t stopped running around the apartment ever since.”

“She stopped to have a meltdown when I told her Grimm couldn’t come”, Blake said.

“Birthday tears make even Blake melt.” Yang laughed.

“I’ll take the presents to the living room”, Mercury said, even though he knew it would be impossible to avoid being around Yang today. Well, at least he could try. It wasn’t even because it really hurt him to be around her, but he couldn’t deny he was still into her. He didn’t need to pour gasoline into the open flames if he ever hoped to kill the fire.

“Make sure she doesn’t chase the dog through the apartment”, Blake said.

There already were a bunch of presents on the dinner table. She hadn’t opened any of them yet. He was glad Emerald had been in charge of the gift wrapping because his skills were miserable at best, and put their presents on a stack next to the others.

“Merc!” Tiny steps behind him and then Rose threw herself against him, wrapping her arms around his legs before he could react, Grimm following her.

“Hey.” He smirked and then picked her up. So she had finally realised he was here. “Happy birthday.”

“Mum say in a year I can read her bedtime stories.” She wrapped her arms around his neck. “I’ll go to school next week.”

“I know.”

“Did you get me a present?”

“Of course. Em too. You didn’t open any of them yet, did you?”

“No, I wanted to wait until you’re here. What did you get me?”

“There.” He pointed to the stack of presents he had just put there. “Some are from Em.”

“But what is it?”

“You’ll see what’s inside when you open them.”

“Can we open them now?”

“Let’s get the others first.” He ruffled her hair and walked to the kitchen while she groaned disapprovingly, trying not to fall over the stupid dog who didn’t want to leave her side.

“No dogs in the kitchen”, Blake said when she saw them and Mercury stayed in the doorway.

“She wants to open her presents.”

“Oh, finally.” Yang looked up from the strawberries she had been washing. “She’s been running around the table all morning, trying to guess what’s inside.”

“You have no idea how patient she was”, Blake said.  “I’m done with the cake from now.”

“I don’t want to be patient anymore”, Rose whined, pulling at his collar to get his attention.

“Okay, living room everyone, before she pulls the skin from your bones.” Yang wiped her hands at a kitchen towel and then stepped forward to kiss Rose on the cheek. For a moment she was way too close, he could smell the familiar scent of her shampoo. Then she walked past them and Mercury took a moment to compose himself before he followed her.  

He sat Rose down on a chair and sat down next to her. “Which one do you want to open first?”, Yang asked.

“The best one. Or should I save the best one to open last?”

“Well, I don’t know which one is the best one.” Yang sat down next to her and picked one from the stack. “How about you start with this one?”

The doorbell rang before she could get her hands on it and Rose immediately jumped down from her chair. “I want to open the door!”, she yelled when she was already running out of the room.

“Well, I just hope she’ll fall asleep easily tonight.” Yang shook her head. “Do you have any idea how hard it was to make her sit still for two minutes to have breakfast today? Not even talking about getting her to fall asleep yesterday.”

“If she keeps jumping up and down like that she’ll be asleep at five o’clock”, Emerald said.

They heard voices from the hallway, mostly Rose, incredibly excited, until she came back, followed by a man with blue hair. “Look, he’s here!”, she cheered.

“Oh, Neptune.” Yang was suddenly incredibly busy rearranging the presents on the table.

Oh. That guy.

“Nice to see you.” He stood around a bit awkwardly until Rose pulled him inside the room towards the table.

“You’re early”, Blake said and then got up to hug him. “Good to see you.”

“I didn’t want to be late”, he said while Rose kept jumping up and down next to him until he picked her up. “Can’t miss the important day, can I?”

“No!” Rose giggled and hugged him tightly. Mercury already knew he hated him.

“I’m glad you made it.” Yang finally got up and pulled Neptune in some kind of awkward hug, looking like she tried to get as far away from him as possible. “Want some coffee?”

“I’m good, thanks.” He smiled and then turned towards Emerald and Mercury. “You must be…”

“I’m Emerald”, she said when he remained silent. “And that’s Mercury.”

“He’s my daddy now”, Rose said. “I told you all about him.”

“Oh, hey.” Neptune smiled and then quickly turned away to sit down with Rose. “So, are we opening presents now?”

“Did you get me a present?” She climbed on his lap. “I want to open that one first.”

“Of course I did. It’s in my bag.”

“I’ll go get the bag.” She jumped down and ran out of the room.

“She’s been like that all morning, hasn’t she?” Neptune leaned back and fumbled around with his sleeves. “I didn’t know you had a dog now.”

“Didn’t she tell you?”, Yang asked.

“You know her, she talks a lot and I don’t always get what she means.”

“The dog belonged to our boss”, Emerald said. “Then our boss got arrested and she was already in love with him. Merc was too weak to let them put it down, so now he lives with us.”

Mercury decided to eat Emerald’s precious yoghurt as revenge for that comment. “She loves that dog”, he said.

“She loves animals”, Neptune said as if they didn’t know that already.

Rose came back with Neptune’s back, insisting on sitting on his lap again while he pulled out a lazily wrapped gift. She unwrapped it in seconds. “Oh!” She inhaled sharply when she opened the carton. Inside was a pair of shoes, pink but nothing special to it on first sight. “Mummy, mummy, look!”

“Are those the ones with LED lights?”, Yang asked when Neptune helped Rose to put them on and she jumped off his lap.

“Yes!”, she squeaked. She was adorable, Mercury had to admit that, but the shoes were a stupid present. Okay, maybe not that stupid judging by the way she jumped up and down. Well, even he wasn’t able to come up with a reason why this was a bad present.

“Which one’s next?”, Rose asked after enjoying her new shoes for approximately five seconds. She climbed on Neptune’s lap again.

Rose was excited about every present and called at least five of them the best present ever. She loved the dress Emerald had gotten her and insisted on putting it on right away. It only made Mercury feel worse about his own, but when she finally unwrapped it Yang had to stop her from opening the box right away, obviously dreading small screws and gear-wheels everywhere. 

Even when Taiyang, Ruby, Pyrrha and Qrow arrived Rose granted them with not more than a minute of her attention before she only had eyes for Neptune again. She sat down with him on the floor, telling him to pet Grimm and making him read passages from a book Blake had gotten him to her. Mercury tried not to stare and fled to the kitchen, also because he really didn’t like the looks Qrow and Taiyang gave him.

“Where’s your girlfriend?”, he asked Emerald who helped Blake preparing dinner.

“She’s not…” Emerald blushed and Blake chuckled. She had gotten too used to deny their relationship, but now everyone knew about them anyway. “She’ll be here soon.”

“And tomorrow we’ll have the apartment full of overly excited children.” Blake sighed. “We wanted to go outside, but it’s supposed to rain. Well, as long as she’s happy. Mercury, go make Rose eat some strawberries, I’ll never get her to eat some fruit after she had her cake.”

He rolled his eyes behind her back. “Sure.” What a pleasure to be around Neptune again.

Grimm was sleeping on a pile of wrapping paper while Rose sat on Neptune’s lap. He was showing her something on his phone, probably pictures. Maybe his new girlfriend. Mercury hoped he still had a girlfriend. Pyrrha, Qrow and Taiyang sat at the kitchen table and tried to figure out how to change the batteries of Rose’s Walkman.

“What’s in the bowl?”, Rose asked, looking at him suspiciously. 

“I stole some strawberries, don’t tell your mum.” He sat down, looking at Neptune for a moment before he took a strawberry from the bowl.

“You can’t just steal strawberries”, Rose whispered.

“She won’t throw me out if I tell her I stole them for you.”

“You didn’t really steal them, did you?”

He shrugged and then gave her the bowl. “Well, now you stole them.”

“Mummy can’t be mad at me, it’s my birthday.”

“Of course she can’t”, Neptune said. “Is Blake still in the kitchen with your girlfriend?”

“She’s not his girlfriend.” Rose sounded as if he had said the most ridiculous thing in the world. “She’s Weiss’ girlfriend.”

“Oh.” Neptune looked at him for a moment before he quickly took a strawberry out of the bowl she was holding. “I just thought… because you said they’re living together, you know?”

“Mummy and Blake are also living together.” Rose rolled her eyes, but at least his plan had worked and he started to eat the strawberries.

“Oh good, you are getting along”, Yang said behind him. He didn’t turn around, because he felt like it would be too suspicious. Probably everything he could do was too suspicious. But he and Neptune were so not getting along, he was just nice because Rose was there. “Rose, someone has to walk the dog before we eat the cake. Do you want to do that today?”

“Oh yes.” She smiled and got up immediately. “Neptune can walk him with me. And Ruby, Ruby loves dogs. Can everyone come?”

“I think Blake has to prepare dinner”, Yang said. “But I’m sure the rest can come.”

“Blake probably won’t want to do everything on her own”, Neptune said when he got up as well.

“I don’t want her to do everything on her own”, Rose said.

“I’ll go and ask her if she needs help”, Mercury said. He definitely didn’t want to watch Rose only having eyes for Neptune any longer.

Turned out Blake really wasn’t fond of the idea of doing everything on her own. Yang offered to help her and Rose didn’t seem to mind, so Mercury stayed as well because he didn’t want Yang to think he had a problem being alone with her. Also he really didn’t need Neptune around him any longer. So he ended up chopping cucumbers and tomatoes for the salad while Yang and Blake prepared the lasagne.

“Stop being grumpy”, Yang said.

He raised his head. “What, are you talking to me?”

“Well, Blake just made out with Pyrrha in the bathroom, she looks like she’s on drugs if you ask me.”

“Hey!” Blake nudged her with her elbow. “Don’t say it out loud, we don’t want anyone to know yet.”

“What? No one else is here and Merc already knows.”

“Everyone knows.” He continued chopping the tomatoes. “Emerald told me Weiss found out when you disappeared from that party last week for half an hour.”

Blake blushed. “Oh… hell. I thought we were being discrete.”

“You totally weren’t.” Yang laughed. “Hand me the cheese, pretty please?”  

“At least I’m not jealous of Neptune”, Blake said.

“Hey, you can’t make that comment, you never touched my dick.” Yang shot him a threatening glare. “What, too soon?”, he asked and she threw a kitchen towel at him.

“For a moment I felt bad for you”, Yang groaned. “But you’re still an idiot.”

“You always knew what you were in for.”

“What Yang is actually trying to say”, Blake said, “is that Rose is only clinging to Neptune because he’s barely here anymore.”

“I mean it was the same with you when she got to know you better. She talked about you all day long and always begged for your attention.” Yang gave the lasagne the look of a proud mum and then sat down at the kitchen table, stealing a piece of tomato from his cutting board. “She was miserable when Neptune and I broke up and he moved out, so now every time he comes over she doesn’t leave his side.”

“So what Yang is trying to say is that you’re a part of her life now, not someone special who drops in every now and then. Means you’re less interesting.”

“Being less interesting never sounded that flattering”, he said. To be honest it almost was. At least it made him feel a lot better, but he had never wanted them to know it had bothered him in the first place.

“Anyway, I’m glad he’s around at all.” Yang leaned back and he wasn’t sure if she wasn’t looking at him on purpose. “He almost… I mean in a way he was her stepfather, and it’s not easy for a child to have someone just disappearing from her life. He still calls her and picks her up for the weekend from time to time.”

How incredibly cute. Well, he shouldn’t complain as long as Rose was happy, but he still didn’t have to like him. He looked at Yang, just to prove himself he could. She was wearing jeans and an oversized knitted sweater, bright red and showing off her left shoulder. She looked way too good in it.

He just hoped Rose and the others would be back soon.

 

* * *

 

Holding Weiss’ hand in front of the others felt wrong. They were officially dating now, but it still felt like Emerald was admitting something deeply personal by just touching her.

“So… your boss got arrested?”, Taiyang asked. Emerald had never really talked about him with Weiss, but now it almost seemed like she was his third daughter, by the way they interacted and the way he was now trying to find out everything about her.

“Yes, but I didn’t have anything to do with it.”

“She’s founding her own company now”, Weiss said. “With Mercury.”

“So you two live together?”

“Dad, this is not an interrogation.” Ruby sighed.  

“We became roommates in college, and we just stuck with it. I mean now I already know how to make him do chores.” The real reason was that she needed him just as much as he needed her, but that was something they didn’t even admit to each other.

“That’s how I met her”, Weiss said. “Rose has her own room in their apartment, you should see it, it’s super cute. Rose loves it.”

“She mainly loves the dog.” Emerald shrugged. “I mean sooner or later she’ll need her own room anyway. She won’t feel welcome if she has to sleep on the couch every time she stays over.”

“Can’t blame her, he’s such a wonderful dog”, Ruby said.

“Very true.” Taiyang looked at her, but he was smiling now. “I’m still not happy about Neptune moving out.” He lowered his voice so Neptune, Pyrrha and Rose couldn’t hear him. They were walking ahead of them, Rose sitting on Neptune’s shoulders. “I mean in a way I’m glad she’s not dating Mercury. It’s more stable that way, no bitter break ups.”

If he only knew how head over heels they still were for each other, and that this was the reason those idiots weren’t dating right now. Emerald shook her head and let go of Weiss’ hand to wrap her arm around her shoulders. “Though Merc will always be her dad, no matter if they’re together or not”, she said.

“I mean he hasn’t been her dad for almost six years.”  

“Because your daughter is just as stubborn as her mother”, Qrow said. “Not his fault she didn’t tell him anything about her.”

“Maybe he came off as if he wouldn’t want to have anything to do with her.”

“Don’t be unfair, Tai.”

“You should have seen him after I got his sister pregnant”, Taiyang said to Emerald and Weiss. “I was scared he’d cut my throat at night.”

“Dad!” Ruby groaned. “Don’t talk about stuff like that.”

“Listen to your daughter.” Qrow laughed, his hands buried in the pockets of his jeans. “And after all I let you live.”

“Maybe Mercury should be glad Yang didn’t give you his number”, Weiss said to Taiyang.

“Oh, come on. I’m the nice one here.”

 

* * *

 

“Why again did you get her a bike you still have to build together?”, Mercury asked.

“It was cheaper.”

“Aren’t you the engineer here?”

“Not that kind of engineer”, Yang said. “Ruby would know how to do that, but she’s busy teaching Grimm how to play dead with Neptune and Rose.”

“Put that dog somewhere he’s not supposed to be, that’s the trick.” Mercury sighed. “The only bike I ever owned was stolen, I left it somewhere by the road when I had trouble with it.”

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that.” She got up. “I’ll go and make sure Rose doesn’t feed leftover cake to the dog.”

The instructions were only partially helpful. The problem was that unfortunately he cared about Rose dying in a car accident because her bike suddenly broke underneath her, so he actually had to put effort into this. All while sitting on the floor of Yang’s room because it was the only space where he could do this in peace, staring at her bed and thinking about every tiny thing they had done in there.

“Do you know what you are doing there?”

He raised his head. Qrow stood in the doorway, arms crossed. “I can read the instructions.”  

“So… you and Yang.” Qrow closed the door behind him and sat down on Yang’s bed. At least that made all the thoughts of undressing Yang disappear. “What are your intentions?”

Seriously? That talk? Now? From him? He looked down again and studied all the different screws. “We’re not dating.”

“But you were.”

“That’s arguable. Also it was six years ago.”

“What are you even doing there?” Qrow switched from the bed to the floor in front of him and took the screwdriver out of his hand. “That’s not supposed to go there.” Mercury left the task up to Qrow without complaining. “What I’m trying to say… I mean someone has to have that kind of talk with you, now that you skipped the parts of going out with Yang, asking Tai for her hand in marriage, and got her pregnant right away.”

“Can we consider it done now?” He wasn’t willing to go through this without even getting to date Yang.

“Well, probably.” Qrow seemed to know what he was doing. He actually made progress with Rose’s bike. “If I got the message across. Don’t break her heart.”

He rolled his eyes. It was more the other way around, always been that way. If he was honest he didn’t like Qrow, and he had been holding back a lot while talking to Yang about him being an alcoholic. Too many bad memories. But now he had to get along with him. Children really did made everything way more complicated. “I’ll go and see what the dog is doing”, he said and got up, just to get away from him.

 

* * *

 

“So is it a pirate horse or a princess horse?”, Yang asked when Rose handed her the little figurine. She had made Blake sew a tutu for the horse a couple of months ago.

“It’s a pirate princess horse.” Rose rolled her eyes and gave Neptune an annoyed look.

He nodded knowingly. “You can be both, Yang. Didn’t you know that?”

“Well, now I know. Thanks for telling me.” She turned to the big pirate ship Ruby had gotten her for her birthday. Neptune had spent hours building it together with Rose.

“The lion is the queen”, Neptune said. “And the captain.”

“Of course she is. Is she also the princess’ mother?”

“The queen is always the mother of the princess.” Rose rolled her eyes.

“Oh, Yang, you have no idea of anything, do you?” Neptune smirked and she poked her tongue out at him. It was almost scary how much it was like before, when they were still together. Still awkward, but almost like before. Maybe because the breakup had been months ago, maybe because she had fallen in love with Mercury in the meantime. Switching one heartbreak for another didn’t make it any better. At least he could be around Neptune without making it uncomfortable for Rose now.

 

* * *

 

Rose had her next big meltdown of the day when Neptune told her he had to go home. She cried, her arms wrapped around him as if that would stop him from leaving, while he hugged her, whispering something to her that definitely didn’t help her to calm down, Grimm standing next to her and nudging her with his nose. Watching her cry in her little princess dress and light up shoes was harder for Mercury than he liked to admit.

“He’ll come back soon”, Yang said and kneeled down next to them. “You can call him tomorrow.”

“Hey, you can show that new pirate ship we build together to your daddy”, Neptune said and for a moment Mercury almost didn’t hate him. 

“I think he’d really like to see it”, Yang said. “He loves pirates, doesn’t he?”

“I totally do.” Mercury nodded when Rose looked at him. He sighed and kneeled down next to them. “Come on, it’s still your birthday.”

“But you have to come back soon”, Rose said and finally let go of Neptune, immediately throwing herself into Mercury’s arms, sobbing a little when he picked her up.

“Very soon, I promise.” Neptune patted Grimm’s head and Rose started to cry again when he finally left.

“Oh, Rosie.” Yang sighed. “If you want to Merc can stay and take you to bed tonight.”

“I don’t want to go to bed yet.” She leaned her head against his shoulder.

“Not right away, but later.” Yang stroked her head for a moment. “Do you want to watch a movie now?”

“Yes.” Rose had stopped crying now, but was still clinging to him and he was almost scared to admit that while he hated her being sad it still felt good she hadn’t replaced him with Neptune entirely.

“Do you want to put on your pyjama first?”, Merc asked, holding her close.

“Yes.” She yawned. “But I’m not tired yet.”

After a short discussion Grimm was allowed on the couch as long as they put two blankets on it. Rose cuddled up to the dog and managed not to fall asleep while they watched some princess movie Mercury definitely had seen before. Shortly after Emerald left with Weiss because Weiss drove Ruby and Pyrrha home and obviously couldn’t do that on her own.

“Come on, let’s get you ready for bed”, Yang said. “Brush your teeth and Merc will read you a story.”

“Yang can do the reading”, he said. He had never really liked it.

“Fine.” She rolled her eyes and headed off to the bathroom with Rose.

“I just hope the couch won’t smell like dog”, Blake said when Grimm got up to follow them. “But I don’t want him in her bed.”

“He sleeps in her bed when she stays over at our place anyway.” He shrugged. “No way to stop them. She’ll just sneak him in at night.”

“Oh, that girl…” She groaned. “I hate dogs.”

“Stop complaining, you don’t have to live with that beast.”

“You have all my sympathy.” She chuckled and folded the blankets. “Here, take her plushie.”

Rose insisted on him and Yang lying down next to her. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to, it was just that suddenly Yang was so horribly close. He shoved her hair out of his face and she gave him an apologetic smirk. He quickly looked away. He was careful not to touch her.

“Did you have a nice birthday?”, Yang asked.

“Yes.” She tried to keep her eyes open.

“Do you know which book you want to read?”

“Mhm.”

Merc chuckled. She would probably not need a bedtimes tory tonight. “Well, I’m tired”, he said.

“Don’t fall asleep or Emerald will have to go home without you”, Yang said.  

“She’ll just wake me up. She doesn’t want to do the dishes on her own tomorrow morning.”

“Didn’t Weiss want to go home with you two?”

“Probably. Can’t imagine them going separate ways tonight.”

Yang chuckled and Mercury stared at Rose. She was asleep by now, and it was probably the cutest thing he had ever seen. “I like her”, Yang whispered.

“Rose?”

“No. I mean yes, but I’m talking about Em. She’s so cute with Weiss.”

He looked at her. She had that warm sparkle in her eyes she always had when she cared about someone with the same passion that made her throw herself into every moment that promised some kind of adventure. He knew that if it wasn’t for Rose he would kiss her now.

“I’m surprised they actually got together.”

“Really? Why?”

“Em has made bad experiences. Not easy for her to trust people.”

“Weiss is-“

“I know. She’s nice, they’re happy. I’m not worried because of her. Just surprised.” He carefully sat up. “Come on, we should let her sleep.”

Blake had left the living room, only Grimm was sleeping on the carpet. They sat down on the couch and he felt like falling asleep right there. “So now you wait for Em to come home and pick you up?”, Yang asked, sitting far enough away from him to be out of reach.

“Basically.” He leaned back and closed his eyes. “If they’re not having sex on the backseat they should be here soon.”

“Do they have sex?”

Mercury looked at her for a moment as if she was from another planet. “That’s how it all started, didn’t I tell you?”

“You were more vague about them. Wow. Hard to imagine with Weiss.”

“Will you survive or is it too much for your pretty head?”

She threw a pillow at him and he laughed. “She never does that”, she said. “I mean… casual sex. She rarely ever goes on dates.”

“At least she won’t get pregnant that way.”

“She’s gay, how is it going to get her pregnant? I swear to god, I will throw you out.” She was laughing anyway and he looked away.

It had taken him long enough to admit it, but he was in love with her. In a way her decision to be friends and nothing else had only made it worse. It was more than just raw attraction, more than desperately wanting to get her undressed. So different than what he had felt for her before. It was being comfortable around her, joking as friends while he still wanted to undress her, but not just that. He loved talking to her. He loved her smile and the way she tilted her head when she tried to seem annoyed. He loved waking up next to her, with morning breath and messy hair, how grumpy she could be when she didn’t get enough sleep and the way she always managed to cuddle up to him at night.

They had needed to become friends so he could inevitably fall in love with her and he knew it would kill him to be around her without being with her. But he had to, because as if that wasn’t enough already, they also had a daughter.

He was in love with Yang. And so screwed.

“Are you alright?”, she asked suddenly and he looked up.

“Sure, why?”

“You seem… lost in thoughts.” It almost hurt to look at her.

“I’m just tired.” He shrugged.

“I can make you coffee.”

“Em will be here any minute, I’ll live.”

“If you say so.” She stretched out on the couch and closed her eyes. “You know, Blake and I thought about taking Rose on a hiking trip over the weekend. Maybe you and Em want to join?”

“Hiking with a child?”

“She loves it. Also it’s super easy to take her to bed at night after she walked through the forest all day long. And she would really love Grimm to come.”

“Good to know she really cares about the dog and not us.”

“Face the truth, he’s more interesting than you are. But I also asked Weiss and she said she’d think about it, but she’ll definitely come if Em comes, and you need to come so I’m not all alone with couples if Pyrrha joins us as well.”

“I mean technically we’re unemployed anyway, so we should be free.” He knew it was a terrible idea, but he could hardly say no just because he still had feelings for her, more than ever.

“Last time we talked about it you called it _freelancers_.”

“I mean… yes. We have a website and Weiss promised to get us some clients.”

The doorbell rang before she could answer. “So are you going to come?”, she asked as she got up.

“Sure.” What a terrible, terrible idea. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, if that's the last chapter I upload before I go on my holiday... at least it's a long one.


	36. Chapter 36

Yang told herself she wasn’t just going out to prove to herself she totally could have fun with someone else than Mercury. And with fun she meant the adult kind of fun. She wasn’t sure when she had started referring to sex as the adult kind of fun. Probably after her third or fourth drink.

She wasn’t that drunk when she spotted him. It was her third bar, full of college students and hipsters, but if you flirted with the bartender they put enough alcohol in their drinks to leave a burning sensation in her throat. Sun was heading to the terrace and she waved at him.

“I didn’t expect you here”, he said when he sat down next to her. “Are you here with Blake?”

“On my own.” She smiled and asked herself if his face was moving too fast or if her eyes were too slow. “Just having some fun. Maybe… adult fun, later.”

“Holy shit, you’re drunk.” He laughed and took her drink out of her hand when she almost spilled it. “Haven’t seen you in a while.”

“Yes, because your friend dumped me.” She poked his chest to underline her words. “Also I’m not that drunk, give that back.”

“Alright, alright.” He took a sip and smirked sheepishly before he gave her the drink back. “Well, that one’s strong.”

“I like it strong.” She quickly took a large sip and almost spilled some of the drink. Maybe she spilled it a bit. “Do you ever just spill alcohol on your boobs and then you’re not sure if people might think you did it to turn them on?”

“I should try that.” He laughed and she wasn’t sure if he was laughing at her or with her. “How many of those did you have?”

“This is my first, but there was this drinking contest with some med students. I won.”

“Okay, so… why are you here? Just to find someone to take home?”

“I can’t take anyone home, I have a daughter. But… yeah, kinda?”

“Just for fun? You know, just asking because you said you’re not really… into that.”

“Do you ever just do stupid stuff to get over a breakup? Stuff that involves sex and alcohol?”

“If I had known the thing with Neptune hit you that hard I’d-“

“No, not him, idiot!” She groaned and took another sip of her drink before he took it away from her again. “Someone else.”

“Who?”

“Just… someone. I mean we haven’t really been dating, but he got me pregnant, so that kinda-“

“What the hell, you’re pregnant?” He stared at her with wide eyes. “You can’t get that drunk when you’re-“

“Idiot, I’m not!” She groaned and buried her face in his chest just so he would stop looking at her like that. “With Rose. I was pregnant with Rose.”

“Well, thank god. But last time I checked she was a couple of years old already.”

“Yeah, surprise father, much fun for everyone involved.”

“Neptune told me about him being back.” He patted her back, way less sexual than he could have in her eyes.

“I broke up with him a couple of weeks ago so we won’t break up. It made sense when I was sober. Now I’m searching for someone to have sex with so I can prove to myself I still can. Do you want to have sex with me?”

“How about I call someone for you who picks you up and gets you home?”

“Sun, I think you didn’t quite understand my plan for tonight.”

“Okay, Yang. If you get up and walk out of that bar in a straight line I’ll do whatever you want with you.”

“Easy.” She sat up and was proud of herself already, but when she tried to lift herself up on her feet the room around her started spinning and she fell back down on the couch. “Let me try again.”

“Come, I’ll help you to get up.” He wrapped his arm around her waist and suddenly she was standing.

“I think I’m a bit drunk”, she said when the room didn’t stop moving around her.

“Can you walk?”

“I’m not sure.”

He ended up carrying her outside and she had to admit she was defeated. “If I would have managed to walk outside in a straight line, would you have slept with me?”

“I knew you wouldn’t, Yang.” He sat her down on a bench. “So now that we’re somewhere cosy and quiet, who can I call for you? I won’t just put you in a cab, I don’t trust those drivers.”

“I don’t know, where am I?” She looked at him until she remembered. Oh. That was why she had picked this bar. “Fuck.”

“What is it?”

She leaned her head against his shoulder and groaned. “Merc lives right around the corner.”

“I can still call Blake if you want me to.”

“No! Not Blake.”

“So Merc?” He reached for her bag.

“If you have to.” She was too drunk to keep herself from doing incredibly stupid things.

 

* * *

 

“How drunk is she?”, Mercury asked. Yang had stretched out on the bench, her head resting in Sun’s lap. 

“Well, I hope you can carry her. I can call you a cab.”

“I live right around the corner.” It was probably a bad idea to take her home, but at least she was too drunk for them to do anything stupid and he really didn’t want to carry her all the way to her apartment. Also Rose didn’t deserve seeing her mum like this. “You know her?”

“She’s my best friend’s ex.”

“Why did you call me of all people?” He kneeled down in front of them.

“She told me to call you. I probably would have called Blake instead, or taken her home myself.”

Mercury sighed and softly nudged her shoulder. He was just glad Sun had found her and not someone else. “Hey, Yang. Wake up.”

She groaned and tried to shove his hand away before she opened her eyes. “You’re not supposed to be here”, she mumbled.

“I’d rather be home now too. Come, let’s go.”

She sat up, with a little help of Sun. “I’m so stupid”, she groaned. “Where am I?”

“You went to a bar, got drunk, now he’s taking you home”, Sun said. “That’s the guy you wanted to call, isn’t he?”

“No! That was a stupid idea, why did you let me do that?” She tried to get up and Mercury had to wrap his arms around her to stop her from falling. She leaned against him, burying her head in his chest. “I’m so sorry. I’m not smart when I’m drunk. You smell so good.”

“We already have a child, what can happen?”, Mercury said and probably it wasn’t the best way to gain Sun’s trust. “I’ll text Blake she’s with me once we’re home.”

“Don’t tell Blake”, Yang mumbled.

“I’ll better hurry before she falls asleep again.”

“Alright”, Sun said. “Good luck.”

He sighed and rubbed Yang’s back in case she had fallen asleep again. “Come on, we need to get home before that dogs eats my shoes.”

“I shouldn’t go home with you”, Yang said, but she moved along with him and actually managed to walk. She was stumbling over her own feet and they were slow, but at least he didn’t have to carry her.

“If you want to sleep on that bench, I won’t stop you.”

“No, I don’t want to. Actually I wanted to get laid tonight.”

“You got a bit too drunk for that.”

“Shut up. Now I really have to try not to have sex with you again.”

He sighed. “Yang, you’d just fall asleep halfway through and I’m saying it again, you’re too drunk for it to be morally acceptable to have sex with you. Even if I didn’t care, your dad would kill me and afterwards Blake would resurrect me to kill me again. Not fond of that idea.”

“I’m not drunk.” She stumbled against him and he had to keep her upright to stop her from falling.

“Okay, how about I carry you on my back?”

“Only because my feet hurt like hell.”

She was heavier than Rose, but still light enough to carry her. “Please don’t choke me”, he said. “And tell me if you get sick or I’ll just let you sleep behind the trash cans.”

“I would never hurt you.” She ran her hand through his hair, the metal of her prosthetic cold against his neck. “Please don’t believe I’d choke you.”

“I know, Yang. It was a joke.”

“Your jokes are bad.” He felt her head on his shoulder, her breath against his neck and he wasn’t sure, but maybe her lips on his skin. He tried to ignore the warm tingling in his stomach.

“Do you always get that drunk when you want to have sex?”, he asked when he opened the front door and carried her up the stairs.

“I just wanted to prove to myself I’m over you.”

He knew he shouldn’t have asked. He didn’t say anything and when he opened the door to his apartment he hoped she had been fallen asleep.

Of course she hadn’t. “I think I feel sick now”, she said.

“How bad?”

“A bit.”

He carried her right to the bathroom, carefully let her down. She sat down on the floor and tried to take her shoes off until he sat down in front of her and helped her with the shoelaces.

“I’ll get you some water”, he said.

“Don’t leave me alone.”

“Just a minute, Yang. You’ll be alright.” He needed to get away from her for just a second.

He got her a bottle of water from the kitchen. He could hear her gagging and choking before he made it back.

He had definitely never planned to end up holding her hair back while she was throwing up, but here he was, kneeling down behind her and stroking her back when she was done, tears streaming down her face and coughing. “You alright?”, he asked. 

“No.” She pulled herself up and he wanted to get up in case he had to hold her, but she could actually stand up and wash her mouth in the sink. “I think I feel better now.”

“Do you want to lay down on a bit?”

“Yes.” She looked into the mirror, wiped away her tears and then stumbled out of the bathroom. He took the water bottle and quickly followed her. She still was already lying on the living room floor when he reached her, her arm wrapped around Grimm.

It would have been cute if she hadn’t been crying.

“Yang…” His voice was almost too soft. He sat down next to her, reaching out to touch her and then pulling his hand away. “What’s wrong?”

“I miss Grimm”, she said. “I totally love him, but I can never be with him, because Blake doesn’t like him. But he’s still around because of Rose and I love Rose so much more, but I also love Grimm.”

It was a shame how long it took him to realise she wasn’t talking about Grimm. _Oh, hell._ “You were the one who broke up with me”, he said before he could realise it was a terrible, terrible idea.

“Doesn’t mean it was easy. I still love you.”

He tried to ignore the sharp pain in his chest, but she was right there, drunk and crying and beautiful, the woman he loved telling him she loved him back, and it was so dramatic and ridiculous he wanted to yell at someone. Maybe he could have said something that would have made her change her mind, that they could work it out, that they could be together without hurting Rose, but she would have forgotten it by tomorrow. “Come, drink some water”, he said instead. 

“I don’t want to drink water.” She was sobbing, burying her face in Grimm’s fur and he just wanted to hug her. He knew it was a stupid idea. It wouldn’t make anything better, just hurt more.

He did it anyway, because he had never been the one to make smart choices. He lied down behind her and carefully wrapped his arms around her. She stopped crying and for a moment he thought she would push him away, but then she relaxed. Her hair tickled his face and he rested his chin at the top of her head. She took his hand and then wrapped his arm around her more tightly until his hand rested on her stomach, his fingers intertwined with hers. “You’re more comfortable than the dog”, Yang mumbled.

“Well, now you have both.”

“I should have forced you to marry me when I got pregnant.”

“I would have run off and changed my name. I’m not ever getting married.”

“Me neither. We should have not gotten married together.”

He closed his eyes and tried not to let her words hurt him. Would, could, should. “Try to sleep, okay?”

“On the floor?”

“I’ll carry you to bed once you’re asleep.”

She turned around in his arms, hitting him into the ribs with the elbow of her prosthetic, until she was facing him, stroking his cheek with her fingers. “I miss you.”

“Yang, don’t…”

“Don’t stop me while I’m drunk enough to ignore this is a stupid idea, okay?”

He sighed. “You know exactly I’m not responsible enough to stop you, don’t you?” He kissed her forehead and he knew he had passed the point of stopping himself from doing something incredibly stupid long ago.

“It’s not against the rules if we’re stupid for tonight, is it?”

“We don’t really have rules, Yang, we broke up. But if we did it definitely would be against the rules, you’re just too drunk to care.” He ran his hand through her hair. He had missed doing that so much.

“Did you miss me too?”, she asked, her lips brushing his jawline. Her voice was shaking.

“Yes”, he mumbled and he told himself he only answered because she would forget about it anyway.

“Why do you have such a hard time admitting your feelings?”

“Because some blonde bitch broke my heart once.” He softly stroked her cheek.

“I can’t believe she did that.” She kissed the corner of his mouth.

“Me neither. I-“

The sound of the apartment door opening interrupted him. He moved away too quickly, but getting away from her was the first thing that came into his mind. Not letting Emerald walk in on them like this. As if it mattered. Yang didn’t move and for a moment he thought he might have hurt her, but she just turned around to wrap her arms around Grimm again.

He got up when he heard Weiss giggling in the hallway. “Em?”, he asked.

“You’re still up?” She was beaming in a way that was unusual for her, leaning against the doorframe. “Or did we wake you up?”

“Hey, Merc”, Weiss said, wrapping her arms around Emerald from behind. “Can I call you Merc?”

So they were both drunk. He sighed. Why was he suddenly alone with three drunk women? “If you have to.”

“Em”, Weiss said, suddenly more serious. “Do you see that?”

“Do I see what?”

“Yang is lying on the floor. I don’t understand.”

“Wait, is that Yang?” Emerald raised her eyebrows and looked at him.

“Yes, it’s Yang.” He sighed. “She was drunk in a bar right around the corner, so she called me to pick her up.”

“Why is she lying on the floor?”, Weiss asked. “Is she not allowed on the couch?”

“Because she wanted to cuddle the dog. I mean when you’re at it you can make her drink some water.”

“I don’t want to drink water”, Yang groaned.

“I don’t care, Yang, because you won’t be the one to deal with hangover Yang tomorrow morning.”

“Drink the water, Yang”, Emerald said, then looked at Mercury. “Go get her one of your shirts, we’ll help her get changed. She can sleep in Rose’s bed.”

“Can you for once drink enough not to boss me around?” He rolled his eyes, but then went to his room to get her a shirt.

When he came back Weiss and Yang were sitting on the floor next to each other, Weiss hugging her while Yang lazily sipped on the water bottle.  “How was your date night?”, Mercury asked.

“So wonderful”, Emerald said, wrapping her arms around him. Yes, she really was drunk. “But why is Yang here, and why is she dressed?”

“Emmy, they would never have sex!” Weiss shook her head and Yang almost choked on her water.

“Weiss. We literally have a child”, Mercury groaned.

“Yeah, but… I mean…” Weiss blushed and looked away.

“We’re not dating”, Yang said. “Because only stupid people would do that.”

“We should all go to bed now”, Emerald said. “Mercury, we don’t need you here, go to your room.”

It was probably a stupid idea to argue with Emerald while she was drunk. He just sighed and looked at Yang one last time before he went to his room.

Even when he was lying in bed and starting at the ceiling he didn’t know how he would ever be able to sleep again, even when he couldn’t hear their steps and voices anymore.

Someone carefully opened his bedroom door and for a moment he thought it was Grimm, but then he heard Emerald’s familiar footsteps.

“What are you doing here?”, he asked when she snuck under his blanket.

“Making sure you don’t cry yourself to sleep.” She wrapped her arms around him, her movements clumsy. “Are you alright?”

“Of course I am.”

“But Yang. I mean…”

“We’re friends. We figured this out.” He tried to get comfortable next to her.

“Why can’t you just be happy?” She pulled herself up on her forearms. “You know, you love her. She loves you. You’re just too stupid to finally be together. I can see how much it hurts you.”

“This is not helping.”

“Why not?”

He looked at her and then pulled her closer so she would lie down again and not look at him like that. “Because it was her decision, not mine.”

“Change her mind. Undress in front of her and shove your abs into her face or something like that.”

“You’re annoying when you’re drunk.”

“Come on. I just want to help you.”

He rolled his eyes. Why couldn’t she let him sulk on his own? “I’m fine. Go shove your abs into your girlfriend’s face.”

“She’s asleep now and I don’t have abs.”

“You know what I mean.”

“Yes. You want to be miserable on your own, but I won’t let you. Because I care about you.” 

“Okay, how about I promise to solve this tomorrow and you sleep in your own bed tonight?”

“Promised?”

She would probably forget it until tomorrow. “Yes.”

She sighed and kissed his cheek. “I really care about you. You know that, right?”

She was almost too honest for his liking. “I know that you’re really drunk.” He softly ruffled her hair. “I’ll be fine.”

“I know you’ll be fine, I just want you to be happy.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I'm back! I have been working on a lot of stuff, but I also really want to finish this fanfiction. There are still some great things to come and I can't wait for you to read it all.


	37. Chapter 37

“Now?”

“Two minutes, Blake. Come on, don’t make me nervous.”

“I’m surprised you’re not.” She sat down on the edge of the bathtub Yang was sitting in. It had been an attempt to show how little the situation bothered her _. See, I am sitting in the dry bathtub, I’m such a rebel and not nervous at all_. Yang felt like the anxiety was eating her from the inside.

“Two minutes and we’ll know for sure it’s just a stomach flu.” Yang shifted because the bathtub actually was horribly uncomfortable. Her metal arm hit the wall with an awfully loud bang. She still wasn’t quite used to it. “You know, we could get ourselves a few bottles of wine and drink them while we watch a movie, how does that sound?”

“Let’s get the result first, Yang.” She looked at her phone. “It’s been way more than five minutes now. We should have a look.”

“Alright, alright.” Yang got up and climbed out of the bathtub. “I’ll do it.” She took a deep breath and the only reason she took the test right away probably was that Blake was watching and she still felt like she needed to pretend she didn’t give a damn in front of her. Her heart was pounding fast when she finally looked at it. And looked. And looked.

“Can you give me the instructions again?”, she asked.

“Yang…”

“I don’t remember what the colours mean, can you please give me the instructions?” Her voice was so calm it even surprised herself.

“The colours don’t mean anything. How many lines do you see?”

“I… but doesn’t the colour tell you if you’re pregnant or not? Blue means pregnant, pink means you’re not.”

“No.” Blake reached for the packaging. “One line means the test works. Two lines mean pregnant. Are there two lines, Yang?”

“One is a really light pink, I don’t think that counts.”

“Yang, it does count.”

She couldn’t bear to look at her. “No!”, she finally said. “This just… it’s not the right time, I just started college. I refuse to have a child now.”

“You mean you want to-“

“No.” Yang looked at her. She felt like either crying or breaking something.  But she knew she had made a choice as soon as the thought had come to her mind. “If I do that I’m even worse than my own mother. She at least had the decency to have me before she disappeared.”

“So you’ll have the child.”

She felt like she couldn’t even gasp the weight of that decision yet and it was already crushing her. “I… I guess I have to.” She threw the test into the sink and walked out of the bathroom. She felt like she couldn’t breathe. “Fuck!” She went to her room and kicked the door shut behind her with a loud bang, threw her notes and books from the bed to the floor. She wouldn’t need them now anyway.

“Yang.”

She turned around. She hadn’t even noticed Blake coming in. “What?” She sat down on her bed, pulling her knees to her chest. “Leave me alone.”

“Who’s the father?”, Blake asked and sat down next to her. “That guy you work with?”

“Yes.” She rested her chin on her knees. “Can’t be anyone else.”

“You have to tell him.”

“No.”

“Yang…”

“No. He doesn’t want children. We talked about that. He’ll either just leave or he’ll be mad at me. Either way, whatever we had will be over and I don’t want to be around him for the rest of my life while he blames me for ruining his.”

“You’re being overly dramatic.” Blake wrapped her arms around her and leaned her head against her shoulder.

“I’m not. Oh my god, I don’t even want to know what my dad will say, he probably still thinks I’m a virgin.”

“But he’ll help you, won’t he?”

“Yeah, sure. And tell to move back in with him so he can tell me what to do. But I won’t have a choice, because I can’t afford an apartment on my own. I can’t have a child and work at the same time while I also go to college. But I’m sick of everyone telling me what to do, you know what, I’ll just live under a bridge if I have to. Or I’ll become a prostitute, what else do you do when you have a child and you’re completely on your own?”

“Yang, stop it.” Blake pulled her closer. “You’re not on your own.”

“If you mean-“

“I’m talking about me. Do you really think I’ll just leave you alone with this and throw you out?”

Yang didn’t dare to look at her because she felt like if she did she would start to cry. “Do you realise what I’m dragging you into?”

“You’re not dragging me into something, but… I mean if I was pregnant you would already be redecorating the apartment. You would never leave me alone with this. And I always wanted to be a godmother.”

“You’ll be the best godmother anyone has ever had.”

“I’ll make you a cup of tea.” Blake got up and softly ruffled Yang’s hair. “Then we relax and get you a doctor’s appointment.”

“Blake?”

“Yes?”

“Did I ever tell you how much I love you?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, this was a flashback.


	38. Chapter 38

“Did you have sex?”, Blake asked.

“I told you it’s over.” Yang covered her eyes with her hands. “I woke up in Rose’s bed, in his clothes. I don’t know what happened or how I got there, and I couldn’t ask because I sneaked out before he woke up.”

“Sun texted me.” Blake sat down next to her. “Come, drink some water.”

“Why did he text you?” Yang groaned when she sat up. Some blurred memories of last night told her it was because of her.

“He picked you up in a bar and then called Mercury for you so he’d pick you up. He just wanted to make sure you got home safe.”

“Oh my god. Why did he call _him_?” She took a sip from the water bottle Blake gave her. She felt sick, everything was hurting and she was just glad Ruby had already picked up Rose for their monthly adventure.

“Probably because when you’re drunk you’re honest and have no self-control, so you told Sun to call him because you wanted to see him.”

Yang almost choked on her water. “I didn’t… I don’t want to see him. We broke up.”

“I still don’t really understand why.”

“Because of Rose, Blake. Because of Rose.”

“You realise many parents have a relationship while also having a child together? My parents are still married.”

“That’s not what I meant. Most parents don’t get together when their child is already five years old. If it doesn’t work out and we break up she’ll be in the middle of everything again.”

“Is that why you refuse to date anyone after you broke up with Neptune?”

Yang didn’t say anything for a moment, drinking half of the water just so she didn’t have to reply until she felt like she had to throw up. “I just… I can’t afford to break down and not be there for her. I can’t take the risk of getting hurt. For her.” She avoided looking at her.

“Because your dad broke down when your mother died?”

For a moment Yang just couldn’t say anything. Her throat clenched and she felt like she couldn’t breathe until Blake moved closer and stroked her back. “I don’t… I don’t want her to go through that.”

“But this is different, Yang. You lost your mother, and at the same time your dad couldn’t be there for you. It was different than a breakup and Rose’s situation is different already. She has enough people in her life to give her stability even when you have a bad day.”

Yang leaned her head against Blake’s shoulder. “I just… I don’t want to ruin her life by getting together with her father and then breaking up with him anyway.”

“You can still date him for a while without telling her until you’re sure.”

“He wouldn’t want me back now anyway.”

“Stop making up excuses. You already couldn’t keep your hands off each other twice.”

“I can’t decide that while I’m this hungover”, she mumbled.

“You’re the worst.” Blake nudged her with her elbow and got up. “Don’t think I’ll ever drop this topic.”

“I know you too well to think that.”  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Theoretically there would have been another long chapter that is already written out that I could post now. Technically I will push that chapter for later because it makes more sense to wrap up some other things first. We are nearing the end of this story!


	39. Chapter 39

This was beyond awkward.

Yang and Mercury stood by the front door, waiting for Rose to pick which plushie she wanted to take with her tonight. The silence between them was thick and nasty, but he didn’t know what to say. They hadn’t talked since the night he had picked her up from that bar. He didn’t even know how much of that night she remembered.

“Can I talk to you about something?”, she asked after a while. She leaned against the wall, not even looking at him.

“Sure.”

“We solved the whole custody thing.”

He raised his eyebrows. Not the topic he had expected. “You did?”

She shrugged. “I don’t even know why, but after the last fight I had with my mother she sent her lawyers after the social workers and made sure that they will leave us alone from now on.”

“You don’t make it sound like it’s a good thing.”

“Yeah, I… I don’t know. I mean I kinda did cut her out of my life.” She sighed. “I just can’t manage to feel good about it. I mean I am glad, I know it was wrong of her to act like that, but I can’t bring myself to be happy.”

“It was a nasty situation, Yang. No one is happy once it’s over.”

“Because you have so much experience with custody situations?” She looked at him and bit her lip. “Sorry.”

He shrugged, looked away. It didn’t hurt as much as it would have years ago. “I have a very basic understanding of human beings.”

“I shouldn’t have said that.”

“Just drop it.”

“No, I just…” She sighed. “Merc, I’m sorry. I’ve been doing some things I regret and I just… I should treat you better.” She stepped a bit closer. He held his breath for a moment. She looked as if she wanted to say something and then bit her lip, crossed her arms in front of her chest. “You’re a part of this family now and I want to make it work, so I will try to be more careful in the future.”

And for a moment he had thought she might… he wasn’t even sure what. Talk about the night she had almost kissed him? Changed her mind?

He knew that at some point he had to stop clinging to her, stop letting her get under his skin.

“Don’t make a big deal out of it”, he said, leaning against the wall behind him to get some distance between them.

“I know I’ve been-“

“I found it!” Rose came running out of her room, holding a little stuffed fox in her hands. “I found one Grimm hasn’t met yet.” She wrapped her arms around Mercury’s legs. At this point he was beyond caring about it. “Can we go now?”

“Sure. Say goodbye to your mum.” He ruffled her hair.

Yang got on her knees and Rose hugged her tightly. “Have fun.” Yang kissed her cheek. “Be nice, okay?”

“I’m always nice”, Rose said.

“Yes, she is.” Mercury took her bag. He couldn’t bring himself to look at Yang.

 

* * *

 

When Mercury’s door creaked open he checked the clock for the first time in hours. It was half past three and he took his headphones off when he saw Rose standing in the door, looking at him with big eyes. “You’re awake?”

“I had a nightmare.” She looked at him, pressing her fox plushie close to her chest.

Mercury turned away from the code he had been working on. “What was it about?”

“Monsters.”

“What about Grimm?” He got up. He had been working for way too long anyway.

“I didn’t want to wake him up.”

“Do you want to sleep here?”

She nodded and carefully walked inside. “Why are you still up?”

“Work.” He took the laundry basket from his bed and put it on the floor. “Lie down, I’ll go and get ready for bed.” Rose climbed on the bed and he hesitated, turned around to tuck her under his blanket. “I’ll hurry, okay?”

“Mhm.” She looked at him and he turned the lights on when he left the room.

She was still awake when he came back from the bathroom. He had brought her blanket and lied down next to her. “Still scared, huh?”

“A bit.”

He crawled under the blanket with her and she snuggled up to him. He turned the lights off and wrapped his arms around her. “Try to sleep.”

“Do you believe in monsters?”

He closed his eyes. He didn’t want to tell her about the monsters he did believe in. The monsters that didn’t lurk in the dark but where you could clearly see them. “No.”

“But are you sure? Absolutely sure?”

“Well just… you know, even if monsters were real, why would they be mean to you? If you’re nice to them, they’re nice to you.”

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely.”

“I’m still scared of monsters.”

He stroked her back. “Now I’m here. Try to sleep.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm baaaack! And this story will be finished very, very soon.


	40. Chapter 40

Mercury wasn’t even sure why he had been invited to Blake’s birthday party, but there he was, sitting on Blake’s couch while trying to think of a way to leave. The party was lout and about everyone around him seemed to be drunk. Now it made sense that Rose was sleeping at her grandfather’s place today. Mercury sipped on his coke and watched Weiss and Emerald sitting in a big cosy armchair and making out.

“Are you having fun?” Yang sat down next to him. He could smell her perfume, the rum, her. She was closer than she needed to be.

“Sure.”

“You should talk to people.” Her arm brushed his for a second. “Socialise.”

“Or I could find you a nice girl to go home with.” She leaned her head against his shoulder. “If you’re nice to her I’ll introduce you to Nora.”

He forced himself to take deep breaths. Her hair was tickling his cheek. “And then you’ll watch me make out with her in front of everyone here?”

“If you’re nice to her.” She didn’t look at him when she took his glass, touching his fingers a second too long before she sipped on his coke. “You still don’t drink.”

“No.” He tried to ignore how her body pressed against his, warm and soft, how much he had missed her. She barely looked at him when she was sober, tip toed around him, and she touched him too often for it to be an accident when she was drunk, trying to set him up with one of her friends the very next moment. He didn’t know why, he didn’t know what she wanted, he only knew that he was done. “Alright”, he said. “Introduce me to her.”

Yang raised her head and looked at him for a moment. “Sure.” It sounded way less excited than a minute before. She had stopped smiling. “Come on.”

She took his hand and dragged him with her until she found who she had been looking for in the kitchen. Nora was smaller than Yang, red hair and nothing that really caught his interest.

She wasn’t Yang.

“Did you meet Mercury yet?”, Yang said and it sounded like she was talking about an appointment with her tax accountant.

“No, I don’t think so.” Nora looked a bit bewildered for a moment before she gave Mercury a big smile. “So nice to meet you!”

“I’ll leave you two to talk.” Yang turned around and hurried to leave. Mercury buried his hands in the pockets of his jeans and clenched his teeth.

“You’re Rose’s father, aren’t you?”

He had to force himself to look at Nora. “Well, I guess.”

“You guess?”

He sighed. There wasn’t much he wanted less than making out with her right now. “No, I am, I just…” He wanted Yang. She kept pulling him close and pushing him away and that would never change as long as he let her. “Excuse me for a second”, he said.

The living room seemed to be even more crowded than before, but Yang was usually easy to spot. She wasn’t here. He left the living room. Blake was making out with Pyrrha in the hallway. There was light behind one of the doors. He walked closer, carefully pushed the door open.

Sun was sitting on Yang’s bed. She was sitting on his lap, kissing him feverishly. Mercury couldn’t even describe the painful sting inside of his chest. It was worse than when she had left him. “Having fun?”, he growled.

Yang flinched, looked at him and he wasn’t sure if she wanted to tell him to fuck off or that she was sorry. Maybe it was just his stupid mind not being able to give her up.

“She jumped at me”, Sun mumbled.

“Why are you even here?” Yang got up and bit her lip in anger. “Why do you keep... argh.” She stormed out of the room, roughly shoving him aside.

He was done.

Blake gave him a confused look when he walked past her and opened the front door. He slammed it shut behind him and the bang echoed through the hallway.

The cold air burned in his lungs. He tried to take slow and steady breaths, tried to breathe the pain in his chest away. He had to forget her.

“Mercury!”

He turned around. Yang ran in his direction, bare feet and still just in the yellow dress and black cardigan she had worn at the party. “Fuck off, Blondie.”

“Asshole.” She stopped in front of him. “Who do you even think you are?” She poked her finger into his chest with every word she said. “You keep coming over and messing with my head and the one time I finally find someone who understands me and who could be the one you screw it up.”

“Did you even know that guy? He didn’t seem to be your one true love last time I met him.”

“That’s not the point!”

“Then what is even the point? Why do you keep pushing me around and using me as your punching bag when all I-“

“I am not pushing you around, I’m just trying to stay away from you! Stop making that so hard for me!”

“It’s not my fault you’re so horrible at not fucking me!” He turned around. She tried to pull him back by his sleeve, but he just kept walking.

“I just want to… stop right now and talk to me!”

He didn’t turn around. He just wanted her to leave. “You are just like your mother.” He bit his tongue. For a moment he was sure she had just given up, but then suddenly something soft hit his head. He caught it before it could fall to the floor, it was her cardigan. When he turned around she had tears in her eyes.

“You have no right to say that. Absolutely no right. Only because your father screwed you up doesn’t mean you have any idea what it’s like to…” She bit her lip.

“One time I fall in love with a woman and try to make it work she has to be a heartless bitch.” He turned around. He couldn’t look at her.

“I’m not… I’m not a heartless bitch.”

“Just… you should have made up your mind long ago, Yang.”

“Everyone has left me at some point. You can’t blame me for being careful.”

“But I didn’t.” He looked at her. “You left me twice and still refuse to really let go of me. And I’m stupid enough to let you.”

“I know.” She stared at her feet and he couldn’t help but to shiver when he looked at her. “I screwed it up, didn’t I?”

“You don’t even know what you want.”

“I do… I do know what I want. But it’s complicated, because of Rose and-“

“It’s not because of Rose. You’re just using her as an excuse.”

“I don’t even know what my problem is myself, okay? But every time I get too close to you I just panic and think of all the things that could go wrong and ruin everything, just how I ruin Rose.”

He sighed. “Yang, it’s freezing cold. Go back inside.”

“No. I know it’s stupid, but I just… just tell me what to do?”

“I told you. Make up your damn mind.”

She stepped closer, grabbed him by the collar and pulled him down to kiss him. Her lips were cold and her teeth chattering, but she kissed him passionately anyway. As if she wanted to prove a point. He sighed softly and then pulled away.

“Get back inside.” He gave her her cardigan and she looked like she was about to cry when she took it and put it on, hands shaking. “I just… I don’t want this half assed bullshit anymore.” He softly stroked her cheek and she looked up.

“I can try. I will… I’ll try not to run away. We’ll do this properly this time, boyfriend and girlfriend, no sudden breakups and as long as we keep that away from Rose we can make this work. I’m not a bad girlfriend, I-“

“Yang. Can we talk about that inside before your feet freeze off?”

“But you won’t leave?”

“What’s the point, I’d have to chain you to that tree up there to stop you from following me.” He hesitated for a moment and then wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulled her with him. “Why did you even run after me without your shoes?”

“I didn’t even want you to date Nora.” She was shaking. “I just wanted to… I thought if you were with someone it would be less tempting. I thought if I was with someone I would be able to stay away from you. I didn’t think.”

“Well, I’m irresistible.”

“Shut up.” She smirked.

He ringed the doorbell and she leaned her head against his chest. He buried his face in her hair for a moment. He had missed her, but something still kept him from believing she finally really wanted to pull through with this. As if it was too good to be true. He almost didn’t want to go inside when the door finally opened.

Before they walked through the apartment door he let go of her. He didn’t need people to talk. Emerald stood behind the door and he looked at her, begging for her to just leave them alone for a moment, to not ask any questions. She raised her eyebrows, but she didn’t say anything. Yang pulled him through the hallway, back into her bedroom. At least Sun had left. Yang sat down on the bed and Mercury took the blanket, wrapping it around her before he sat down next to her. She was still shaking.

“I know I can never make my mind up. I know, I-“

“Just say what you want now.” It felt like he couldn’t really believe her every time she did. He needed to be sure. “Either we finally stop this or… don’t break up with me in two weeks for some stupid reason.”

“Do you even want that?”

It was the first time she had asked that question. The first time anyone had asked that question. He looked at her. Maybe because it had never been necessary. “Yes.”

“I want you”, she whispered. “Hell, I wanted you six years ago. And breaking up with you so you won’t break up with me is just stupid.”

“Yes, it is.”

“So are we… dating now?” For a moment she looked just like six years ago, asking him out.

“I guess.”

She looked away and blushed. “Stop making me nervous.”

He chuckled. “Am I?”

“Of course. Are we just… gonna sit here and…”

“I’ll make you a cup of tea.”

“Don’t just leave me here.”

He smirked and looked at her, then leaned close to kiss her. Sometimes he wasn’t sure if he could ever get enough of her lips, soft and sweet. “I’m not you.”

“When will you stop holding that against me?”

“Maybe in six years.” He pecked her cheek and got up. “Try to get warm.”

“Would be easier with you in my bed.”

“I’ll be back in five minutes, you’ll survive. Just don’t start to make out with that blond guy instead.”

“When will you stop holding _that_ against me?”

“I have only just begun.”

She rolled her eyes but smiled when he opened the door to and left the room. He caught himself smiling like an idiot and pressed his lips together, sweet warmth rushing through his veins.

The kitchen was empty and he filled the kettle, began to search for teabags.

“Mercury Black”, Emerald growled behind him. “Explain.”

He turned around, looked at her. Smirked. She looked at him with wide eyes. “What the-“

He shrugged. “Don’t talk me out of this, I had enough drama today.”

“So are you…”

“Dating?”

“Yeah.”

“Yes.” He took a mug out of the cupboard.

“All of a sudden.”

“Let’s see if she changes her mind once she’s sober.”

“She didn’t have that much.” All of a sudden Emerald hugged him from behind. “I’m happy for you.”

“How much did you have?”

“Don’t ruin the moment.”

He smiled and filled the mug with boiling water. “Go and kiss your girlfriend.”

“She fell asleep. Go kiss _your_ girlfriend. Are you making her tea?”

“She was cold.”

“She’s making you weak, Merc.” Emerald leaned her head against his back. “Rose is making you weak. Weiss is making me weak. Is that good?”

“We’re too old for all that drama.”

“Come on, we’re still young.”

He turned around and wrapped his arms around her. “Should I take you home?” 

“No, go make sure that bitch doesn’t leave you again. Blake said Weiss and I can sleep in Rose’s room.” She pushed him away and smiled. “Go bring her the damn tea.”

“Try to cuddle the right person tonight.” He took the cup and smirked when he left the kitchen.

Yang had changed into her pyjama and a yellow knitted sweater while he had been gone. She sat on the bed and looked up when he closed the door behind him. “You really got me that tea.”

“Shut up and drink it.” He gave her the cup and then sat down behind her. She leaned back and he wrapped his arms around her, her head leaning against his chest. He rested his chin on the top of her head and for a moment everything seemed to be perfectly alright.


	41. Chapter 41

The office looked different without Cinder. It wasn’t even about the big mess the police had left behind, or the fact that Emerald hadn’t been here in months. Most likely it was the fact that it was _her_ office now, a place where she could do whatever she wanted. Well, at least as long as Mercury was alright with it.

“Are you sure you want to stay in this building?”, Winter asked. “The address might just get you associated with your old boss.”

“The damage is already done.” Mercury pushed his old desk closer to the window. Great, he was already scratching the floor. “Our names are linked to her company. That way we’re at least not trying to cover anything up.”

“I mean the office is nice.” Yang sat down behind his desk, opening one of the drawers. “Big windows, Rose already loves it... why do you keep hot salsa in your desk?”

“In case I want to eat the nachos from the other drawer.”

“Well, no one is going to open this one ever again.” Yang threw the glass of Salsa into the bin.

“Keep the nachos if I haven’t already opened them.”

“Throw the nachos away”, Emerald said. “No one knows how long it’s been since he bought them.”

Winter scrunched her nose and for a moment Emerald wished Weiss had been here and not in the other room, going through the stuff in Cinder’s office because neither Mercury nor Emerald seemed fond of keeping anything of that.

She had been nervous before meeting Winter for the first time today, had tried to prepare herself for everything she might ask or say, but despite some piercing looks she hadn’t said anything that didn’t have to do with the office. Emerald wasn’t even sure if she was aware she was Weiss’ girlfriend.

“We should get rid of unnecessary clutter”, Emerald said eventually. “Including your nachos. We have a kitchen for that.”

“I’m so glad you’re not my new boss, Em.” Mercury smirked and pulled the chair Yang was sitting on back and rolled it into the corner of the room. “I think I need a bigger desk.”

“Just take Cinder’s and put it next to yours.” Em rolled her eyes when Yang pulled Mercury back by the hem of his jeans and he leaned down to kiss her. Mercury was in a way better mood since they had gotten back together, but as a couple they were just insufferable.

“I am not going in there ever again”, Weiss said, her face bright red when she walked back into the room. “I just… no, I don’t want to talk about it.”

“What was it, a box of condoms?”, Winter asked dryly. Weiss only looked away. “Oh, really? What kind of company was this even?”

“She often worked late at night”, Emerald mumbled. “I won’t be mad at you if you don’t want her desk after all.”

“I’m just glad my sister is a lesbian, considering she’s freaking out at the sheer sight of condoms.”

Emerald felt her face grow hot. “Winter!”, Weiss said, looking away.

“Come on, Emerald, help me with that room.” Winter chuckled and left the room without looking at her. Emerald hesitated for a moment, then she followed her.

Weiss had already started to sort the rest of Cinder’s stuff into boxes. A box with _Keep_ in her neat handwriting on it was standing on the desk. It was almost empty apart from a puncher and some pens. “I think we can get rid of most of her stuff”, Emerald said. She picked up at a small bronze figure of a wolf. “Do you think that might be worth something?”

“Probably not worth the effort.” Winter sat down behind the desk and opened a drawer. “Oh, those aren’t just condoms.”

Emerald stepped behind her. The drawer was full of rather explicit magazines, old ones. Ten copies of the same issue with Cinder on lacy underwear on the cover. “Oh, well. She never told us about that.”

“I can’t believe Weiss is so easily flustered by a pretty woman in underwear. I hope your relationship doesn’t involve her running away when you undress.”

“Not really.” Emerald blushed and looked away. “She probably expected to find something way worse in the other drawers.”

“Weird of her to keep them here.” Winter took the magazines and gave them to Emerald. “Put those into the throw away box, unless you want to keep one for Weiss.”

“I think she’d never forgive me if I did that.” Emerald threw the magazines on top some old mugs with mouldy rests of coffee.

“Weiss told me not to have the talk with you”, Winter said all of a sudden. Emerald turned around. Winter wasn’t even looking at her, going through the next drawer. “You know, the do not break her heart talk. Our father would have given you a talk about not ruining our reputation and our mother would have had a glass of wine with you, or ten.” She looked up. “But I think Weiss can look after herself, so if you expect any of that… don’t worry.”

It didn’t sound like approval. It didn’t sound like disproval. If she was completely honest Emerald wasn’t sure what to make of it. “She really told you not to have that talk with me?”

“And to be nice to you. Don’t tell her I told you.”

Emerald turned around so she wouldn’t catch her smiling. This wasn’t exactly approval, but maybe a start. “Sounds like her.”

 

* * *

 

“Yang, I really don’t care.”

“What if I get you pink ones with flowers?”

“Rose would be jealous.”

“I might get those for her.” Yang threw the pink bedsheets into the trolley. “Just plain grey?”

“I said I don’t care.”

“Those are your new bedsheets and you should care.” There were so many different shades, so many different patterns, and nothing really seemed to fit him.

“If you’re unhappy with the ones I have now you also have to pick the new ones because this is definitely not worth my time.” He leaned against the trolley and almost stumbled when it suddenly moved. She laughed and he showed her the finger.

“I’m not spending another night in this polyester nightmare”, she said.

“It’s only a nightmare when you steal all the blankets again.”

“Get another blanket for emergencies.”

“I hate IKEA but with you it’s just ten times worse.”

She grabbed a couple of bright orange bed sheets. At least she liked them. “Love you too.”

“That colour is awful.” He took them out of her hands and threw them into the trolley. “Are we done now?”  

“You’re horrible, I’ll never take you with me again.” She took the trolley and wanted to walk away, but he wrapped his arms around her from behind and kissed her neck.

“Anything else you need?”

“A boyfriend who enjoys going shopping with me.” She leaned against him. “I still need Christmas decoration.”

“Already?” He rolled his eyes.

“Not a Christmas fan?” She turned around, wrapping her arms around his neck.

“I never celebrated.” He shrugged.

“Well, this year you won’t get around it.” She kissed his cheek. “Your apartment needs decoration too.”

“Do you want Em to hate you?”

“Just some fairy lights, okay? For Rose. Also you should invite Emerald for Christmas Eve, Weiss will be with us anyway.”

He rolled his eyes and kissed the tip of her nose. “You invite me for lunch afterwards, okay?”

She smiled. “Sounds fair.”

When they made it out of the store it was already getting dark. They had borrowed Pyrrha’s car and the back seat was cramped with stuff she totally didn’t need, at least according to Mercury. She had taken her shoes off to rest her feed on the dashboard. They watched the cars pass by and Yang kept stealing fries from him even though she had said earlier she didn’t want any.

“I need to call someone”, she said eventually.

He raised his eyebrows. “Go ahead.”

“I only told you so I actually pull through with it.” She stared out of the window. “I don’t want to make this call.”

“Sure you have to?”

“Yes.”

He stroked her cheek. “Better do it now because this date will suck if you have it on your mind all the time.”

“Date, huh?”

“You bought me dinner.”

“And bedsheets.” She leaned over to him and kissed him. “I’ll go outside and make the call, don’t run away without me.”

“I didn’t get those bedsheets just to not get to take your clothes off.”

“Idiot.” She smirked and stepped outside. It was freezing cold. She leaned against the car and stared at her phone for a moment before she finally dialled the number. She had been about to do this so often now that she knew didn’t need to look it up.

“Yes?”, Raven said.

Yang took a deep breath. “Hey.”

“Yang?” For a moment she sounded actually surprised. “Hello.”

They both didn’t say a word for a moment and Yang thought about all the times she had tried to talk to her that had gone horribly wrong. “Listen”, she finally said. “I thought about some… things. Christmas. You… the twenty-sixth, you can come over at four in the afternoon, one hour, no expensive gifts for Rose. You can bring cake if you want.” She was almost sure she would say no.

“Sounds… nice.” Raven saying that sounded so unfamiliar. “I’ll be there.”

“Great.” Yang bit her lip. “Well… see you on Christmas.”

“Yes, see you then. And… thank you.”

She wasn’t sure if she felt like smiling or crying. “Bye.”

Only when she got back into the car she realised that she was shaking, either because she was cold or because she had been so nervous, she couldn’t tell. Mercury raised his eyebrows, but she just shook her head. “It went… alright I guess.”

He moved his seat back. “Come, you’re freezing.”

She almost hit her head when she climbed on his lap. She leaned her back against his chest and he wrapped his arms around her. “I left some fries for you, they’re on the back seat.” He rubbed her arms. “You should have worn a jacket.”

“Oh, worried?” She smirked and turned her head so she could kiss his cheek. “Rose is with Blake, do you want to stay over tonight?” She just didn’t want to be alone.

“I actually thought we’d have sex on the back seat, but it’s full of Christmas decoration.” He stroked her back. “Guess I have no other choice now.”

“Oh, come on, it’s not even my car.” She leaned against him and closed her eyes. “But let’s stay here for a moment.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter to go!


	42. Chapter 42

“I’m so tired.” Rose sounded like the only reason she didn’t throw a temper tantrum was because she actually told the truth.

“We’re almost there”, Yang said.

“Last year you carried me.”

“But you’ve grown since then, you’re too heavy now. Merc is already carrying your backpack.”

“I don’t want to walk anymore”, Rose said and with the determination of a stubborn six year old she stopped and sat down on the forest path.

“Rose, come on. It’s too cold to sit on the ground.” Blake sighed. “You had so much fun half an hour ago.”

“That was half an hour ago, what do I care about that now?” She crossed her arms in front of her chest. Grimm sat down next to her, probably out of solidarity. Mercury bit his lip in a half-hearted attempt to keep himself from laughing. Yang felt like throwing something at him.

“Rose, get up”, she said. “You’ll just get sick if you sit on the cold floor for too long.”

“I don’t want to.” Her lip was already trembling. She was about to burst into tears.

“If someone can take the backpacks I can carry her”, Mercury said.

“I’ll take yours”, Pyrrha offered.

“Em can take Rose’s”, he said. Emerald rolled her eyes, but she didn’t protest. Probably because Weiss was still holding her hand. The two of them were growing more and more inseparable.

Rose forgot about her meltdown when Mercury carried her on his back. Yang tried to take in the autumn forest around them, everything so she would stop staring at Mercury. Everyone knew anyway, everyone except Rose. They had decided not to tell her for a while, until they were sure this would work. Really work this time. It made sense, of course it did, but sometimes it just made things hard, especially when everything she wanted was to take his hand.

When they reached the cabin Rose was asleep. It was early afternoon and Mercury carefully laid her down on the couch, Grimm lying down on the floor next to her. Some grey strands of hair fell into Mercury’s face as he took her shoes off and covered her with a blanket.

“You’re staring”, Weiss whispered next to her.

“What?” Yang quickly looked away. “No, I’m not.”

“Oh my god, you two are just horrible.”

“Not that you are any better.” Yang smirked. “Just keep it kid friendly while we’re here.”

“As if you’re –“

“You know that I love you, but you’re basically undressing her with your eyes.” Yang patted her back. “I’ll go unpack.”

The cabin was small but Yang loved it. She shared the smallest bedroom with Rose, a bunk bed and the forest right in front of their window. It was peaceful.

“Which one is yours?”

She turned around. Mercury stood in the door, eyebrows raised. “Rose always wants to sleep in the top bed”, she said. “She thinks it’s exciting.”

“Why didn’t you get her a bunk bed then?”

“Because she always gets scared she might fall down at night and ends up sleeping down there with me.”

He laughed and closed the door behind him. “It looks like it could crash down on the two of you.”

“I think it looks stable.” She opened Rose’s backpack to keep her hands busy. “More stable than your couch.”

He sat down on the bottom bed and caught the plush lion she was throwing at him. “Everything for the little princess.”

“You say that as if you really mind.”

“I would mind less if you’d sleep there with me.”

She bit her lip and looked at him. “You know that –“

“Yes, but I can still dream.”

She smirked and got up. “Well, Rose is asleep now.” She sat down next to him. He wrapped his arm around her waist and she had no idea how she had ever thought she could stay away from him.

“Everything I want to do right now is to never move again.” He smirked and she brushed a strand of hair out of his face. He took her hand and pulled her close before he leaned back and let them fall on the bed. She shifted to rest her head on his chest.

“We’ll just fall asleep like that”, she said. “And then Rose walks in on us and has questions.”

“Oh, come on. All your friends expect us to do something way worse, they’ll stop her from opening that door.” He ran his hand up and down her back. “Just relax and let it happen.”

“Don’t say that, it sounds very wrong.” She closed her eyes and fought the temptation for a moment. Only a moment. “Okay, half an hour. Set an alarm.”

“Well, if that’s all that I can get…” He sighed and pulled his phone out of the pocket of his jeans. “I’d be surprised if she wakes up before dinner.”

“We still have to unpack.” She looked at him. He typed something on his phone before he threw it into Yang’s open suitcase on the floor.

“Get your priorities straight”, he said before he pulled her close. “And now let me sleep.”

She chuckled and closed her eyes. It was comfortable like that. Way too comfortable. “Half an hour, then I’ll throw you out. No matter what.”

“You won’t.”

 

* * *

 

“Don’t get too close to the fire”, Yang said probably for the hundredth time.

“It’s taking too long.” For a moment Rose looked like she was about to cry.

“Come, I’ll show you how it works.” Mercury sat down behind Rose and pulled her into his lap. “You have to hold it right above the embers, not directly into the flames. See, it’s already getting a bit brown.”

“When can I eat it?” She leaned back against him and let him hold her stick with the marshmallow.

“Patience, Rose. Patience.” Yang sighed and sipped on her wine bottle before she handed it to Pyrrha. “We talked about this.”

“I hate patience”, Rose growled.

“I know, it’s boring.” Mercury laughed.

“She’s so your daughter”, Emerald said.

Mercury shrugged and took a close look at the marshmallow on the stick. “I think you can eat it now.”

“Yes!” Rose clapped her hands.

“Careful, it’s hot.” He let her pull the marshmallow from the stick. “Wait a minute before you eat it.”

“You can already roast the next one, then I don’t have to wait that long. Or two at once. Can you roast all at once?”

“You’ll get sick if you eat all marshmallows”, Pyrrha said.

“Just like you if you drink all the wine.” Blake took the bottle from Pyrrha’s hands, but before she could take a sip Pyrrha pulled her closer to kiss her.

“What?”, Weiss shrieked. “You two are… why are you kissing? Stop that, explain yourselves!”

“Come on, you didn’t know?”, Yang giggled and let herself fall on her back, almost spilling her wine. “Everyone knew.”

“Not everyone, Yang”, Pyrrha mumbled, blushing when Blake kissed her neck.

“Everyone but Weiss.” Emerald kissed her cheek and smirked. “Come on, stop staring like you have seen a ghost.”

“I don’t know what’s so funny about this”, Rose said, staring at Yang who couldn’t stop laughing.

Yang laughing about everything that wasn’t remotely funny when she had a bit of alcohol probably wasn’t a child appropriate explanation. “Weiss is always the last one to get behind these things, isn’t she? Come on, they made out at Blake’s birthday party.”

“I thought that was just… you know, how friends sometimes make out? You never _said_ you’re together. I thought you were just… really close friends now.”

“My girlfriend is a gay disaster.” Emerald sighed and Weiss groaned.

“Well, I knew they were dating.” Rose shrugged and licked off the last rest of her marshmallow from her fingers. “Mummy told me.”

“Did you know about this?”, Weiss asked Emerald who just wrapped her arms around her tightly and shrugged. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me. We will talk about this later.”

“Just have a bit of wine.” Emerald took the bottle out of Yang’s hands who was still laughing and gave it to Weiss.

“I don’t want to have wine right now.”

“I want to taste the wine on your lips.”

Weiss blushed so hard that even the dim light of the campfire didn’t hide it. “You know, let’s go to bed”, she said and got up. “We should discuss this in private.” Emerald laughed and wrapped her arm around her shoulders when she followed her inside.

“I think Grimm is tired, too”, Pyrrha said. “How about you two go to bed now?”

“I don’t want to go to bed.” Rose cuddled up in Mercury’s lap, resting her head on his arm.

“If you get to bed now you can sleep in our bed”, Pyrrha said.

“Really?” Rose looked at her with big eyes.

“But we will go to bed now. So shall we got and brush our teeth?”

“Okay.” Rose got up and followed Pyrrha inside. “Can I sleep in the middle?”

“Make sure she doesn’t sleep outside”, Blake said to Mercury, pointing at Yang before she went inside.

So here they were, alone by the campfire. For a moment he just stared at the marshmallows he had been roasting for Rose before he picked one from the stick.

“Leave one for me”, Yang said. She got up and sat down next to him, taking a sip from the wine bottle before she looked at him. “Or I will have to lick it from your lips.”

“You’ll do that anyway.”

“You’re horrible, do you know that?”

He smirked and looked at her, then he reached forward, picked the last marshmallow from the stick and ate it.

“Hey!” She looked at him, confused and angry, but he just shrugged and smirked at her, licking his lips. She raised her eyebrows before she finally understood. “No”, she said. She bit her lip. She felt like she was melting under his gaze. “Don’t think this will make me kiss you now.”

“Usually you’re never that shy. Especially not when you’re drunk.”

“I’m not drunk, tipsy at most.” She looked away and he softly pushed a strand of hair out of her face. When she looked at him again he didn’t pull his hand away but softly stroked her cheek with his thumb. “I’m not shy”, she said. “Just not sure if I’m mad at you or not.”

“You’re not.”

“Now I am.”

He laughed and leaned down. His kiss was soft and she almost forgot to be mad at him. She felt his fingers caressing the back of her neck. His lips tasted sweet.

“Are you laughing at me?”, she mumbled against his lips. “Because-“

“No, I’m not.” He smirked, kissing the corner of her mouth.

“Idiot.” She ran her fingers through his hair. She pecked his cheek and moved away, but only to lean her head against his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her.

“I can make you another one”, he said.

“No. We should go to bed soon.”

“We?” His lips brushed her temple.

“I sleep in my bed and you sleep on the couch.” She turned her head to look at him. “Rose will be up early.”

“You’re breaking my heart.”

She pulled him close to kiss him. “Rose might be away for a sleepover again soon, okay? She talks about visiting Neptune soon all the time.”

“I don’t like him.” He pulled her closer. “You won’t get rid of me anyway. I can be pretty annoying Emerald says.”

“I’ll go to bed now, because… if you don’t stop looking at me like that I will do something stupid.”

“Dream of me.”

She rolled her eyes and got up, but she couldn’t keep herself from smiling when she went back inside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It took me way too long to get this out. 
> 
> Well, guys, thank you all so much. For even reading this, for commenting to let me know someone is actually reading this (oh my god!), you have no idea how much your comments have meant to me. It's the thing that kept me going all through this story. 
> 
> Also... yeah, of course expect more of me. I might be done with this story but I'm not done writing.


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